《Wandering Dungeon》 Chapter 1 Ow! my head. Garrett moaned. What Happened? Garrett tried to rub his head but couldn¡¯t move his arms. He couldn¡¯t even feel his arms. He couldn¡¯t feel anything. He opened his eyes and saw a greenish glowing fog all around him. He started to panic, the feeling of claustrophobia slowly crept through him. Something was wrong though. He knew he was starting to panic, that his heart should be racing, and that he should be sweating. He felt nothing. No heartbeat, no sweat, no physical feeling of anything against his skin. Garrett looked down to where his body should have been and saw nothing. He felt the sensation of moving but nothing else. Am I dead? Garrett thought. Is this heaven or hell, or maybe limbo? Garrett took a deep breath to calm down and found that he wasn¡¯t breathing. He realized that he hadn¡¯t taken a breath since he woke up. Oddly this calmed him down. If I don¡¯t need to breath, I guess there is no risk of suffocating. With that worry out of his mind Garrett decided to look around. At first all he saw was the ever-present green glow, but after a bit he saw something else. It looked like a wall of glass, perfectly smooth and clear. He looked out through the glass and saw only darkness, utter and empty darkness. He followed the glass. There has got to be a door or something to get out of here. Garrett thought. Or at least tell me where here is. Soon he saw another wall of glass joining the one he was following. When he got to the corner of the two walls he looked out and saw the same darkness from before. Garrett kept going along the new wall and soon found another wall of glass. He started getting worried that he wouldn¡¯t get out of here. I wonder, since I don¡¯t have a body if I am stuck moving just this one direction. He mused and decided to try going up for a change. To his amusement it worked. He flew up along the wall just as easily as he had before. His amusement was cut short when he ran into another wall of glass. The feeling of claustrophobia kicked back in and he started going faster and faster. He ran into another wall of glass, and another, and another. No matter which way he went he ran into a wall of glass. His panic escalated and he started to hyperventilate. He realized again that he wasn¡¯t breathing and calmed down. He took another look around and analyzed his surroundings. He went around and counted the walls this time. He counted twenty glass walls without a hole or crack to be found for him to escape through. All he could do was wait and see what would happen. He lost track of time. Months, years, minutes, or seconds. Time meant nothing in the unchanging fog of his crystalline prison. At some point Garret noticed that the walls of glass seemed to be getting closer. It was a subtle movement at first that sped up to a slow crawl over time. Garrets claustrophobia kicked in before he could remind himself that he didn¡¯t need to breath but he wasn¡¯t sure he couldn¡¯t be crushed. Garret started panicking more and more as the walls got closer and closer. When he could see the walls all around him he reached out and tried to hold the walls at bay and was surprised when he felt resistance. A spark of happiness flashed through him at the sensation before a thought struck him. If he can feel the glass he can be crushed by it. He once again started to push at the encroaching walls. He felt the resistance again and began to push as hard as he could. The walls continued to close in, steadily shrinking Garrets glass cage. The pressure grew stronger. Garret strained, the fear of being crushed pushed him to his limits. With a sudden popping sensation, the pressure was gone. Garret looked around in surprise. He could still see the green glow around him but at only a fraction of the brightness it was just a moment ago. After being in the bright glowing mists, now he felt nearly blind. Garret looked around trying to make sense of what just happened. A glint of green caught his eye. He looked over and saw a bag lying on a rocky floor. He could see some coins peeking out through the open mouth of the bag. Some were gold, some silver, but most were copper. He also saw a few rough looking gems. Garret instinctively knew that the crystals were a low-quality quartz but was unsure of how he knew that, like a memory just out of reach. A slightly brighter green glow was coming from the bag. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Garret wondered how he was going to search the bag with no hands but then he remembered how he had felt resistance on the glass walls when he had focused on them. He focused on the bag and felt a slight resistance, but not enough to move the bag. He tried focusing on the bag again to no avail. Frustrated he tried again and again, focusing on the bag from different angles. No matter how hard he focused or from what angle he couldn¡¯t get the bag to move. He glared angrily at the bag while it just lay there with no response. Stupid bag. He growled and imagined picking it up and shaking it angrily. The bag jumped up into the air and shook around violently, coins and gems clinking loudly. Stunned Garret just floated there for a moment and stared blankly at the bag floating in the air. He imagined the bag moving back and forth slowly and to his delight the bag followed the picture in his head. He laughed with glee and made the bag dance to his whims. Up and Down, side to side, circles and loops. He tossed the bag and watched it arc away from him. When the bag was a few feet from him he felt a strong force pull him in the direction that he had tossed the bag. When the bag crashed to the ground and came to a stop and Garret was again within a few feet of the bag the force disappeared. Odd. Garret thought. He tried floating away from the bag and got a few feet away before feeling the force again. It didn¡¯t pull him towards the bag this time it just stopped him from moving away. He tried a different direction and felt the same force when he was a few feet away from the bag. He tried again and again, even going up, but nothing he did allowed him to move more than a few feet away from the bag before being stopped by the force. Garret huffed angrily and floated over to the bag. What¡¯s so special about this bag? He wondered. It only had a few coins and some quartz. He picked up the bag and turned it upside down. The coins and quartz crystals spilled out clinking across the cold rocky ground, followed by a glowing green crystal. Garrett¡¯s attention was drawn to the crystal. He felt a familiarity and bond with this small crystal. He studied it and found that it had twenty perfectly even triangular facets. Garrett realized that this is what he had been trapped in. Although he had been afraid when he was stuck inside this small crystal, he felt no fear, or anger. He knew deep down that this crystal was a part of him. He slowly reached out with his mind to pick up the crystal but nothing happened. He tried again and again. Nothing. He could feel the resistance and he tried every way he could imagine to move the crystal that was no bigger than an acorn but to no avail. The crystal stayed where it was, mocking him. He sulked about this for a while. To take his mind off the small crystal, he started playing around with the coins and crystals from the bag. He picked up one and spun it around him, then another, and another until he had ten coins and two crystals orbiting around him. At first he had them spin the same direction but soon decided to try something more complicated. First he tried spinning them in different directions then at different speeds. Soon he had them dancing around him in what looked like a chaotic maelstrom but Garrett knew where every coin and quartz crystal was at any time. Garrett grew bored of just spinning the coins and moved on to making shapes with them. First a circle, then a square. He tried doing different shapes and even made them move. For a while he even had a conversation with a face made of coins with the two quartz for eyes. When he ran out of conceivable shapes and grew bored of talking to himself he wondered if there was somewhere he could store the coins and quartz that would be safe if someone ever decided to come into the small bubble of green light he was trapped in. Suddenly all the coins and crystals floating around him vanished with a light green flash. Garrett was surprised to say the least. He wondered about where the items went and he knew that they were safely stored in a place that only he could access. He wondered how many coins there were and instantly he knew that there were seventeen copper coins, three silver coins, a gold coin, and two inferior quartz crystals. Excited with how easy and instinctual this was he focused on the coins and gems lying on the ground around him and thought of storing them. With a quick flash of green light, the rest of the coins and the few gems vanished, all except the glowing green gem. Garrett thought about what to call this new place he stored things in but simply calling it storage felt off. A small name floated from the murky depths of his memory that felt right. Garrett decided to call the place that he stored away his items his inventory. Now that his playthings were put away, Garrett figured since he was outside of the crystal maybe he could see something besides darkness outside of his little ball of light. He floated away from the green crystal as far as he could go and stared out into the darkness beyond. He couldn¡¯t see anything but a deep pure blackness like when he was trapped in the crystal. So he decided to just float around and enjoy the feeling of floating. He found this quite calming and exciting no matter how long he floated around; like a child swimming through water. Chapter 2 After the umpteenth time around his green lit prison, Garrett spotted something new. A small perfectly round stone lay at the very edge of his invisible cage. When did that get there? He thought. When he floated over to the stone, he realized that his bubble, that is what he started calling the space he could move in, had grown. Not by a lot but by an inch or two maybe. He was ecstatic with the knowledge that he may eventually be able to roam out far enough to see where he was. His attention returned to the stone and noticed that it gave off a slight, almost imperceptible, white glow. He stared at it trying to decide what to do with it for a few hours? Minutes? Garrett wasn¡¯t sure how long in the never changing green light. The smooth, plain grey stone was slightly larger than the glowing green gem that acted as the center of his bubble. He finally decided to pick up the rock and see if it would do anything, but nothing. It just hovered there suspended by his will. He thought it would be something to explore later when he got bored again and decided to put it in his inventory.
Acquired Lesser Sun stone Quality: Poor Produces light equivalent to a torch while mana is provided
A small blue square of text popped up in front of him when he had placed the small stone into his Inventory. He pulled the stone out letting it float in the air in front of him and suddenly he knew how to activate it. This instinctive knowledge explained that all living things absorb mana from their surroundings and store it in their bodies, albeit slowly. The mana can then be accessed to provide various effects. Garret was excited for the possibilities and couldn¡¯t wait to try to play with the mana he now knew he could access. The only problem was that the blue screen was still there. Is this thing ever going to go away? He thought, but the square stayed. No matter where he looked the box followed and blocked his view. Gah, just go away he thought angrily at the box. The blue square of text disappeared with a bubble-like pop. Well, that was a bit too easy. He chided himself for not thinking of that before. He refocused on the stone and imagined a string going from what he imagined was the pool of mana in his floating body to it. Slowly a small fuzzy line of green light a little darker than the surrounding light extended from him toward the stone. The string of mana connected to the rock and surrounded the rock in the same green glow, but nothing happened. He thought about the information that had flowed through his mind when he put the stone into his inventory. He realized that he had to not just direct mana to the stone but to instruct it to infuse into the rock and activate the enchantment deep within the stone. He imagined the green light around the rock seeping in like rain into dry soil. The light soaked into the stone, sinking into the center. The stone lit up with a bright light startling Garrett. He stared into the pure white light given off by the stone and marveled at the idea that this little stone produced so much light. He had a weird thought that he had seen something else produce light without flame. He had a brief vision of a small glowing orb suspended near the ceiling of a room he couldn¡¯t remember. Odd. He thought as he looked up from the stone. His eyes widened in surprise, or they would have if he had them. Thanks to the light from the stone, he could see past the green light he had gotten used to. He saw that he was near the back of a small circular cave roughly twenty feet across. A few old and broken boxes and barrels lined the shadowy walls to his right while a dark tunnel led out of the room to his left. He saw a skeleton laying by the crates, a sword thrust through its ribcage. Garett turned around looking at the cave, excited to see something besides the all-pervasive green and bland stone he had been living with for who knows how long. He saw a few more barrels and boxes behind him just outside of his bubble. Some of them were even unbroken. Garrett wondered what could be in them. He floated as close to one of the broken boxes as his bubble would allow, the stone forgotten in his excitement. He peered inside the box and saw only darkness. Damn, he thought. If only there was a bit more light. Garrett then realized he was an idiot and looked back at the sun stone where he had left it still floating in the air near the other end of the bubble of green light. He pulled the sun stone to him making the shadows from the boxes and crates in the cave dance wildly to his enjoyment. When the sun stone reached him, he looked back into the box and saw a few old, near petrified apples and what looked like hard biscuits. Nothing Exciting. Garrett thought sadly. He continued moving around the cave with the stone in tow admiring everything he could. He stared at the boxes and barrels wondering what mysteries could be inside. He imagined what could have happened to the poor skeleton that was stabbed, envisioning two sword fighting skeletons having a duel. He even marveled at a few small mushrooms he saw growing from a small crack in the wall, small silver streaks running through their blue caps. Garrett heard something coming from the tunnel to the cave he was in. ¡°Where the hell is it?¡± Garrett heard someone huff in a high-pitched voice. Garrett was intrigued, yet worried. Had someone finally found him and was going to steal his gold, or worse, the green gem he seemed to be bound to? He dropped the sun stone and floated to the edge of his range hoping to get a glimpse of this newcomer before they spotted him. The room outside his bubble dropped into darkness as the mana was suddenly cut off from the stone. ¡°Ah ha, here you are.¡± The voice said. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you for a while now.¡± Garrett watched as a small woman flew into his bubble. She was about twice as tall as one of the gold coins he enjoyed spinning around. She had translucent wings fluttering behind her so fast they were a blur. She had bright green eyes and brown hair cut short with a faux hawk on top. She was dressed in what looked like leather armor. She floated over to Garrett¡¯s small green gem and stared at it. ¡°Well? Anything to say?¡± she asked. Garrett was confused. She flew right past him without a second glance and now she was talking to the glowing green stone. ¡°Great.¡± She huffed and crossed her arms. ¡°I get stuck with a new one that can¡¯t even talk yet.¡± "Hello?" Garrett tried saying. ¡°So, you can talk. Perfect. That will make things go a lot faster.¡± "Why wouldn¡¯t I be able to talk?" Garret asked. ¡°New dungeon cores usually take a few decades after being born before they can talk and think rationally. At that point we call them awakened dungeons.¡± Garret found it a little weird to be talking to someone¡¯s back while they talked to a gem, so he floated over and hovered in front of the small flying lady. Now comfortably staring her in the face, Garret asked, "what does that have to do with me?" The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She sighed in frustration. ¡°You are a dungeon core.¡± She pointed to the green gem laying on the ground. ¡°That is proof. That is your core. All dungeons have one that houses their soul. So as a newly awakened dungeon you probably have a lot of questions. Go ahead and ask. I will answer as best I can. Then we can start.¡± "Are you a fairy?" Garrett wondered. Indignation flashed across her face. ¡°What?¡± She yelled. ¡°Do I look like some docile, tree hugging, flower frolicker to you?¡± She crossed her arms and glared at the green gem that was Garret¡¯s core. ¡°I am a pixie.¡± "Is there a difference between a fairy and a pixie?" Garrett asked innocently. Blixie growled. ¡°Of course, there¡¯s a difference, you idiot.¡± She huffed as she ineffectively stomped her foot in the air. ¡°Fairies live in the forest in harmony with nature. They don¡¯t fight and are rather weak. That¡¯s what they want people to think at least. They don¡¯t attack people but love to pull pranks and lure people into traps and let monsters kill people for them. They are cowards that prey on the weak minded and soft hearted.¡± She spat. ¡°Pixies, on the other hand, don¡¯t trick people with honey filled lies. We are an honorable race. We challenge ourselves and others to be better. Pixies travel the world and interact with other races through trade and cooperation.¡± "Sorry for offending you." Garrett said. "I didn¡¯t know." ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She sighed. ¡°You are newly awakened so I shouldn¡¯t be mad that you don¡¯t know the difference between races yet.¡± "What is your name?" Garret asked trying to alleviate the uncomfortableness in the air. ¡°My name is Blixie.¡± She said proudly, head held high and hands on her hips. Garrett Laughed. "Blixie the Pixie?" Blixie huffed. ¡°Well, what is your name mister mighty dungeon?¡± Garret took a minute to calm his laughter. "My name is Garrett, I think. It¡¯s nice to meet you." ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you too,¡± Blixie said with a bow. ¡°But what do you mean you think your name is Garrett?¡± "It was the only name I could think of when I woke up in this place." Garrett responded. ¡°Well, alright Garrett. That¡¯s not the oddest name I¡¯ve heard for a dungeon. Kind of plain though so we will have to spice it up when adventurers start coming through.¡± "What are some of the other names you have heard of?" Garrett asked. Blixie started naming off dungeons while counting on her fingers. ¡°Well, there is the dungeon of Simpan, the dungeon of Abdulax, the dungeon of Axmltrzlnp, but no one goes there now since people can¡¯t pronounce the name. My favorite though is the dungeon of flowers and rainbows Partasti.¡± "Why is that last one your favorite? It sounds like one made for fairies." ¡°Because the rainbows appear after the rain of its victim¡¯s blood and the flowers are nourished by their bodies. Plus, the flowers look like they have faces.¡± Blixie laughed. "That sounds horrible. Why would anyone want to go there?" Garrett said with concern. ¡°It¡¯s one of the oldest and toughest dungeons around and has unique items that can only be found there. So, there are always people trying to prove they are the strongest or just want to sell the items they find inside and live the life of a king.¡± "If so many people are going through it, wouldn¡¯t it be empty of stuff by now if it is so old?" Blixie burst out laughing while holding her sides. Garret didn¡¯t think he made a joke or said anything funny, so why was she laughing like he had. "What¡¯s so funny?" Garret asked. ¡°Empty dungeon.¡± Blixie got out between laughs. ¡°Everyone knows dungeons replenish everything inside of themselves after adventurers dive through them. Even newborn dungeons instinctively replenish themselves to lure in adventurers.¡± "Why would dungeons just create things for people to take?" Blixie stopped laughing and stared at Garret¡¯s core then looked up and carefully examined the room she was in. She noticed the rough, uneven floor and walls, the random broken boxes, and even the skeleton with the sword stuck through it. Her jaw dropped. ¡°How? How could this be? I was sent by the council. This should have been a relatively easy assignment.¡± Blixie mumbled to herself. "Council? Assignment? What do you mean Blixie?" Garret asked. ¡°The council is a group of elder fey that assign other fey, like myself, to dungeons that have achieved a certain level and received awareness and the ability of self-actualization.¡± Blixie mumbled. "I don¡¯t quite understand what you mean. Could you please explain?" ¡°Well, I was sent here to teach you the things you didn¡¯t know. I just didn¡¯t think that I would have to teach you everything.¡± Blixie growled. She sighed in resignation. ¡°I guess we will just have to start from the beginning then.¡± Blixie sighed. Exasperated she sat down, which Garrett found quite funny since she was still flying. ¡°A dungeon core is formed when mana concentrations reach a certain level in an area and condense into a stone or gem that is then infused with a soul. For the first few years or so the dungeon acts on instincts to slowly increase their zone of influence and build a few rooms. To gain experience and build up some levels for themselves the dungeons have various low-level monsters that roam these rooms killing off animals and the occasional unlucky person that wanders in.¡± "So where do the souls come from? Are they just ripped out of some poor person walking around?" ¡°Gods forbid no. That would just be cruel. The souls come from people that have recently died or that have been sacrificed nearby. I have heard of some dungeon souls being devout followers of the gods that have done something to further a god¡¯s religion, they see it as a sort of reward. Although the gods usually only influence the world through small blessings, except for maybe Bracktha the Insane but he is usually playing around with creating monsters like a duck-beaver hybrid or weird things like that. Once the dungeon reaches a certain level, usually level five, the mana has fused the soul fully with the gem and the dungeon awakens. At this point the council elders would send a guide to teach the newly awakened soul how to best utilize the new abilities it receives, act as an adviser, and to help the dungeon not go crazy with power or boredom. But it doesn¡¯t really matter how you got here. What matters is what you do from here on out. So, let¡¯s make you the best dungeon you can be.¡± "What are these levels you keep talking about?" ¡°Every sentient creature is born with a magic that gives them a numerical representation of their physical attributes and power, including magic and special traits. This appears as a panel that only they, or those bound to them, can see. The color and exact look of the panel is different from creature to creature. You absorb a small amount of the a creatures accumulated power, called experience, whenever you kill something. When enough experience is accumulated you increase in level and the magic allows you to increase your physical attributes or learn new spells and ways to manipulate mana.¡± "If it helps me do more than float around the small area I can right now then I guess I might as well try to level up as you call it, but do I really have to kill people to do that. It just feels wrong to kill someone for no reason." ¡°Is it wrong when a human kills a deer to cloth and feed their family?¡± Blixie asked. "Well, no. They are just trying to survive." Garrett responded. ¡°Exactly, its survival. Deer eats grass, human eats deer, Dungeon eats human.¡± Blixie stated. The image of a cave growing teeth and gobbling up some unfortunate person flashed through Garretts mind. "What do you mean dungeon eats human? How do they eat them?" Garrett asked. ¡°When something dies inside the dungeon it absorbs the body along with all the items it has, and a small portion of the creatures accumulated experience.¡± Blixie explained. ¡°In other words, the higher the level of creature that dies inside the dungeon the more experience is gained by the dungeon, but it takes greater amounts of experience to increase in level the higher level you are.¡± "But does it have to involve killing or is there another way to gain experience? I would rather not have to kill anyone." Garrett asked dejectedly. ¡°Well,¡± Blixie pondered ¡°Dungeons can receive tiny amounts of experience from non-dungeon born creatures that spend time in their dungeon, but most things don¡¯t survive or stay inside the dungeon long enough for the dungeon to benefit from it.¡± Garrett sighed in resignation. ¡°But,¡± Blixie interjected trying to cheer Garrett up. ¡°I did hear about a dungeon a long time ago that made large floors that were a spiral design to try and maximize the time people stayed inside it. It even had a massive labyrinth as one of the floors. Unfortunately, it took so long to get through and people got lost quite frequently, so they stopped going. Eventually the dungeon was lost to time, so dungeon guides only mention it as a warning. Besides, other dungeons don¡¯t care if they kill people.¡± "How do they not care about killing others if they use to be humans themselves?" Garrett asked. Blixie scratched her head in thought. "I never really thought about that, so I didn''t think to ask. I guess it is just something to do with being a dungeon? or maybe the years spent acting on instinct changes the way they think? Either way I wouldn''t worry about it."" "All right then." Garrett said a little disheartened. "Where should we start." He just wanted to distract himself and learning something new sounded like a great way to do it. ¡°Right, first thing is to make the heart of the dungeon.¡± Blixie said excitedly. "Isn¡¯t that done already?" Garrett asked. "I thought the core was the heart of the dungeon." Blixie tsked and waggled her finger at Garretts core. ¡°The core is the core. It could be thought of as the soul of the dungeon because if it is destroyed the dungeon dies. It doesn¡¯t matter what happens to the rest of the dungeon. The heart of the dungeon is where the core resides. It lies at the very center of a dungeons sphere of influence and is the most protected room of the dungeon.¡± "I guess that makes sense. So how do we make it?" Chapter 3 ¡°That¡¯s easy enough. First, we have to see what elemental affinity you have. That will decide how to most efficiently display your core and what types of monsters your dungeon will have.¡± "How do we do that?" Garrett asked. "Do we need some special magical item? Or a long grueling test? Or do I get to choose it?" Blixie laughed. ¡°Nothing so silly or elaborate. Just bring up your status screen and it will have your affinity there. "And how do I do that?" Blixie was so surprised by that answer her wings stopped fluttering and she fell about a foot before catching herself. Shaking her head, she mumbled to herself, ¡°What soul doesn¡¯t even know that?¡± She took a deep breath to quell her rising irritation at the fey council for this ridiculous assignment. ¡°Just focus on yourself and think the word ¡®status¡¯.¡± It couldn¡¯t be that easy, could it? Garrett thought to himself, but did it anyway. The blue translucent panel appeared before him again.
Name: Garrett Species: Dungeon Level: 1
Exp: 0 Exp to next level: 100 Element: None
18/20 MP Unused skill points: 0 Boss Monsters: 0
Special Abilities: Unseen Force level 3, Earth Shaping level 1
Monsters Available: None
A faint glimmer of a memory dashed through Garretts mind. He felt like he should know where he had seen this before but the memory was already gone. ¡°Did you get it pulled up?¡± Blixie asked. ¡°We don¡¯t have all day.¡± "I did." Garrett replied. "Can you not see it?" ¡°No, I can¡¯t see it. I told you it is invisible except to you and those bonded to you. Remember?¡± Blixie slapped herself on the forehead. ¡°Ugh, I was so surprised about your lack of common sense that I forgot to form the bond.¡± "Bond?" ¡°Yea. When a dungeon guide meets their dungeon one of the first things we are suppose to do is form a bond between ourselves and the dungeon. That way we can communicate with the dungeon spirit from a distance and be able to see the status page of the dungeon to help make decisions.¡± Blixie pulled out a tiny dagger, pricked her finger and let a drop of her blood fall onto Garretts core.
Blixie the Pixie would like to form a link with you? Do you accept? Yes/No
Garrett had learned his lesson from the other boxes that popped up. Yes, Garrett thought. The blue box disappeared with the same bubble-like pop that the last one did. ¡°Perfect.¡± Blixie stated. ¡°Now that I can see your status screen let¡¯s see what it says.¡± Blixie stared at the floating green ball that was Garrett and blinked a few times. "Ahhhhhh!" Blixie yelled and flew backwards in surprise. "What happened?" Garrett asked concerned. "What is that floating above you?" Blixie asked with surprise and a little fear in her voice. Garrett looked above him and saw only the green glow of his bubble with pure darkness outside it. "What do you mean? I don''t see anything above me." Blixie pointed at Garrett. "Tha-that green floating ball above your core." Why is she pointing at me. Garrett wondered for a second before it clicked. Garett laughed. "I thought you were a dungeon guide and knew all there was about dungeons. You''re pointing at me. I was kind of wondering what I looked like. I just can''t go past the bubble that surrounds the gem, uh my core I guess." "I have been trained on what it takes to guide a dungeon no matter what happens, or so I thought. I have never heard of something like this." Blixie took a deep breath to calm herself down and tried to make sense of what Garrett said. "If what you say is true then it might be your spirit. The spirit of a dungeon is contained inside its core but they can sense anything going on within their sphere of influence. What you call your bubble. They can also focus on specific parts of their influence to see what is happening but their spirit is still held within their core. It seems your soul is only tethered to your core and not bound within it. " "Is that bad?" Garrett asked, a hint of fear in his voice. "I''m not sure." Blixie answered. "I''ve never heard of this before, but if nothing bad has happened yet it should be fine. Since there is nothing to do about that let''s get on with seeing what your element is." Blixie flew back over by Garrett and looked at his status. "Let''s see. Element is...none?" Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Is it bad to not have an element?" Garrett asked with concern. "Because you make it sound like a bad thing." "No, it is just odd. Most Dungeons have access to one element which determines the types of monsters it can create. There are some dungeons that have access to multiple elements and can create the monsters from either element or create hybrid monsters. I have only heard of a couple of dungeons in the history of our world that have had no elemental affinity which allows them access to all the elements." "That sounds amazing." Garrett said with excitement. "So I can make any monster?" "Eventually. You are still limited by your level, amount of mana you have, and on what level you create the monster. Let''s see what monsters you can create for now." Blixie looked back to Garrett''s status. "None?" She said confused. "None?" She started getting angry and yelling. "How are we suppose to build a dungeon with no monsters?" She floated slowly to the ground sulking. "Why did the counsel have to send me here of all places. " Garrett flew down next to Blixie. "Are you feeling okay Blixie? What''s wrong?" "You can''t create any monsters. That''s what''s wrong. All dungeons have at least one or two weak monsters they can create to start with." Blixie said sadly. "And all you have for skills is Earth Shaping, which will allow you to shape and mold the earth within your influence, and Unseen Force, Whatever that is." Garrett stayed silent for a while to let Blixie think through things and went floating through his bubble to see if maybe it had grown again. After a bit of time Garret remembered something about his status that Blixie hadn''t explained. He went back over to the sullen pixie. "Hey Blixie, can I ask a quick question?" Blixie sat on the ground hugging her knees to her chest. "Go ahead. That''s what us dungeon guides are for." She said somewhat sarcastically. "What are skill points for?" Garrett asked. He thought maybe he could distract her from her brooding by getting her to talk. Blixie sighed with sadness. "As you gain levels you will earn skill points that you can use to learn new abilities and spells." She said monotonously as if repeating something she had memorized out of a textbook. "So could I use those skill points to get monsters to summon?" Blixie snapped her head up so fast Garrett thought it was going to pop off her neck. "Of course! Why didn''t I think of that. Not starting with any monsters is probably because you have access to all the elements." "You said there were some dungeons in the past that could use all the elements. Did they start without monsters as well?" "I don''t know. Not much is known or remembered from them. It has been probably a good thousand years or so since the last dungeon that could use all the elements was created." Blixie said nonchalantly. "Are any of them still around?" Garrett asked, his interest piqued. "There is one left that I know of. The headquarters for the mages guild surrounds the entrance so they decide who gets to use it. They call it the world dungeon since every few floors the dungeon changes the themes to different elements and environments with monsters that use those environments to great effect. It''s great for people to practice different elemental spells or fighting against them." "If they started without monsters as well then they must have gotten them as they gained levels." Garrett said with excitement. "So what do we need to do get me some levels?" Blixie was flying around and practically vibrating with excitement by the end of the conversation. She stopped in front of Garrett and coughed into her hand getting into her teaching mindset. "The first thing you need to do is setup your connection to the area around you that will makeup the physical area of your dungeon, and to do that you need to form your core pillar." "Before you ask me ''how do I do that?'' I will tell you. I see that you have a decently sized influence for how young you are, so I guess I don''t have to tell you how to push mana into it." "Actually," Garrett interrupted Blixie sheepishly, "I haven''t put any mana into it. I didn''t even think about it." Blixie stared at Garrett, astonished at the lack of common dungeon sense he had. "It did grow a few inches in diameter since I''ve been floating around for...I don''t really know how long it''s been." "ugh!" Blixie groaned. "You don''t even know how to use mana. That is the most basic thing dungeons do. It''s like breathing." "Except I don''t breathe." Garrett said with a slight chuckle. "But I do know how to use mana." Garrett floated over to the dropped sun stone and started to feed his mana into it. Blixie was pleasantly surprised to see the small stone start to glow and light up the surroundings. She looked around and quickly assessed the small cave they were in. Her excitement grew as she saw the wooden boxes and barrels, she gave a small shout of glee when she spotted the mushrooms, and practically danced with joy when she saw the skeleton. She quickly flew around the small room and assessed the quality of the items she found. "This is perfect for starting out. We will have access to wood from the crates, some food that''s in them, the mana mushrooms on the wall, and even the skeleton with the sword through it. But first back to your core pillar." Blixie flew back over by Garrett''s core and waved him over. "Since you can already infuse that sun stone with your mana then this will be easy. You are just going to do the same thing except push your mana into the stone underneath your core." Garrett floated over to his core and focused on the stone beneath it, He pushed his mana toward the stone remembering the way it felt from when he tried it with the sun stone. His mana sank into the ground and he could see it being absorbed like water into dry desert sand. The stone took on a green glow as the mana infused it. After about a minute his mana stopped flowing and the stone faded back to its original color. Garrett could still see the glow in the stone a little if he looked close enough. Garrett felt empty and lethargic. "Why do I feel so tired?" Garrett said with a yawn. Blixie laughed. "First time running out of mana?" Garrett checked his status and sure enough his mana had dropped to zero. "Don''t worry, it will slowly refill over time. As you get more levels your mana reserves will also increase, and as your influence gets larger the faster your mana will recover." After waiting for awhile Garrett was still feeling groggy, so he checked his status and his mana was still at zero. "Hey Blixie, why is my mana still empty?" Garrett looked over at Blixie and saw her doubled over laughing. "What''s so funny?" "Sorry, sorry." Blixie said between laughs. "I was just wondering how long it would take you to figure out that your mana wasn''t refilling. You were faster than I thought." Garrett scowled at her, or at least tried. How does a green ball of light scowl, he wondered. "I also wanted to to show you the importance of your core pillar. With it you are able absorb the mana not just in the air but from the ground as well." Garrett calmed down since he knew Blixie was just joking around. "So, can you finally tell me how to make the core pillar?" Garrett said exasperated. Blixie''s laughter finally slowed to a stop. "That''s the easy part. Now that you have infused the ground with your mana you can control and shape it how you want with the Earth Shaping skill. You just have to picture how you want the pillar to look and impose your will upon it" Chapter 4 The glowing stone flowed slowly like molasses, leaving behind a scooped-out area of stone, rising ever so slowly under Garrett''s core. It didn''t take a lot of focus to move the stone, about as much focus as it did to move the coins Garrett had found and played around with earlier. Garrett figured stone just moved a lot slower because it was heavier and didn''t normally move. When the pillar had grown to about two feet the stone seemed to flow a little faster. He felt that it also took less focus than it did before. "You''re doing great Garrett." Blixie said with enthusiasm. "It looks like Earth Shape leveled up as well." "Skills have levels? How can you tell that it''s level increased?" Blixie sighed. "I forgot how much you don''t know. Yes, skills have levels. The more you use them the more powerful or efficient they become. So, since the earth flowing in to make your pillar sped up ever so slightly that means your Earth Shape skill increased. That skill will probably become your highest leveled skill, at least for a while, just because it will be used to make your whole dungeon. Once you''re all set up with several floors and it starts taking closer to years to get a new level then you will really start focusing on different skills, but that is years down the road." "Ah, that makes sense, I guess. So how high do I need to make my core pillar?" "About four to five feet is usual for a low-level dungeon. Once you get to a higher level you can make your core room bigger and your pillar larger and more elaborate. You should also have the stone go over your core to protect it but don''t cover it completely. You need at least a quarter of your core exposed to breath." Blixie told Garrett in her teaching voice. ¡°Why can¡¯t I just encase my core completely?¡± Garret asked Blixie. "That way it will be safe, also I don''t breathe." ¡°Because even though your core looks like a common gem it houses your soul and your conscience. Your soul survives by absorbing the ambient mana in the elements around you, but your future monsters survive by using the mana that is continuously released by your core, so if you cover your core completely little to no mana can come out." It took several hours but Garrett finished his core pillar. He looked at his gem proudly displayed on the four-and-a-half-foot tall pillar. Only a small portion of his gem peaked out of the front, giving off a faint glow. He felt that the pillar was a bit plain being just a rough mound that looked like a pile of stone, so he decided to try molding it a bit more and see how creative he could get. Geometric patterns flourished around the gem and slowly spread out covering the pillar from top to bottom. "That looks great!" Blixie exclaimed. "Your mana will start to recover slowly now that you have a direct connection to the earth around you." Garrett checked his status and saw that his mana had only recovered by a point after the several minutes it took to make the geometric patterns. "You can also speed up your mana recovery by focusing on it." Blixie continued. "Just imagine the process you did for adding your mana to the stone but backwards. Imagine pulling the mana into your core." Garrett followed Blixie''s guidance and soon he could feel a small mud like trickle of mana slowly flowing into him. "Mana doesn¡¯t flow well through stone unless it''s processed correctly.¡± Blixie explained. "But as you infuse the stone around you it turns into what is known as dungeon stone and your mana, and the mana that naturally accumulates inside it, will flow through it a lot quicker. Now let''s work on increasing your influence some more." "Do I just add mana like I did with the stone?" "That''s exactly right Garrett! I''m glad you can learn quickly, so at least you''re not a complete idiot." Garrett checked his mana and saw that it was almost half full. He tried to push his mana into the air like he did with the stone, but nothing happened, not even a dip in mana. He could see the string of mana, but it was just floating in the air. With a flash of inspiration, he thought of the end of the mana string diffusing and filling his influence, expanding it like a balloon though he couldn''t say what a balloon was. To his amazement it worked. He could see his green bubble of influence expanding a few inches in just a couple minutes. Garrett whooped with excitement and raced around his slowly growing bubble. He kept feeding his mana into his influence until his mana emptied again, by then his influence had grown a couple of feet in diameter. "Now don''t go getting too excited now. You still have to infuse your mana into the stone so you can mold it into your dungeon." Blixie called out. "It doesn''t matter how big your influence is if you can''t do anything with the stuff inside." "Sorry. I got carried away, but this way I get a bit more room to float around." Garret got into a routine of infusing mana into his influence and the stone within, smoothing out the floor as he went to increase his Earth Shape ability as well as improve the look of his personal chunk of the world. Chatting with Blixie helped pass the time while he waited for his mana to recharge. Garrett became bored of the routine soon enough and experimented with adding mana at various speeds and found a balance that allowed him to continue adding mana to his influence while gaining more mana than was spent. It significantly slowed down the process, but he figured he could use this later when he was bigger and wouldn''t have as much time to actively push mana into his influence. After a few days, according to Blixie, Garretts influence was nearing the wall of the cave closest to him. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Garrett had been waiting for this moment. His influence was almost covering the unbroken boxes and barrels he had seen when he first looked around the cave. Soon he would get to see what was in them. He was so excited he pushed all the mana he had into his influence thinking of the mysteries that could be contained in them. Garrett saw his bubble expand rapidly toward the boxes and cover them. Garrett floated there stunned. His influence hadn''t expanded that much when he put his mana in it before. He looked around and realized that his influence was no longer a perfect sphere. The part covering the boxes was a lump extending out. "Hey Blixie, what just happened?" Blixie had been slowly flying around trying to plan how they could best make use of the natural cave they were in. The darkness not bothering her since pixie eyes had evolved to see in any lighting condition, except magical darkness. She turned to Garrett when he called out. "What basic information, known to every dungeon but you, can I give to you now Garrett?" Blixie said sarcastically. She saw the lump of influence extending out over the wooden boxes. "When did you learn how to shape your influence? You shouldn''t be able to do that for at least a couple of months if not years." She said incredulously. "I just did as you said and pushed mana into my influence. "Did you focus on the boxes as you pushed out your mana? " "I did." "Well, there you go. Most dungeons only think about pushing the most mana they can into their influence, so it is round but sometimes it can be useful to control the shape of your influence as well as the size. Now, let''s go see what new things we have to play with." "It''s just some old, dried-up food stuff." Garrett replied uninterested. "I was able to look inside before you got here." Blixie looked at Garrett with disbelief. "I know for a fact that dungeons can only see anything that is inside their influence, and when I got here your influence was just a couple of feet in diameter. So, can you please explain what you mean by you saw it before I got here." "Well, I can see why dungeons only see what is in their influence if they''re underground without light, but luckily I have a sun stone." Garrett said feeling impressed with himself as he reached out, grabbed the sun stone from where it was left, and brought it over between them. He feed the little stone some mana like before, activating it. Light burst from the stone blinding Blixie for a brief second and lighting up the small cave. "Ugh!" Blixie cried out and covered her eyes. "What the hell? Don''t just go making a light in front of someone''s eyes." Blixie growled angrily. "Wait, how did you make a light?" Blixie asked confused, the pain and spots in her eyes slowly fading. "I didn''t make it. I found it laying around. It might have belonged to the skeleton over there. Finally, Blixie was able to see again and looked at the stone floating in front of her. "Ah. That makes more sense. So that''s why it was so easy for you to infuse your mana into the stone and your influence. You had done it before with this sun stone, but how did you get it to float? I didn''t see any wind or gravity magic on your status." "I just...picked it up." Garrett moved the sun stone around spinning it slowly. "It took me a bit to figure out how to pick-up things though." "Hold on." Blixie said frustrated, trying to figure out how this was possible. She snapped her head up. "Bring up your status again. I think I know why you can do this." Garrett pulled up his status with a thought wondering what idea she had. Blixie quickly looked over Garrett''s status again. "Aha! I think it is because of this Unseen Force skill of yours. When you pick up something do you see anything?" "Well, I see a thin...string I guess you could call it, made of mana that seems to attach to it. Is that what you are talking about?" "Yep." Blixie said. The worry of something else being weird about this dungeon dissipated. "So, it was just a skill I hadn''t heard about before. Now that that mystery is solved let''s have you absorb those boxes and their contents." Before Garrett could ask how to absorb things Blixie continued. "Go over to the creates and imagine them dissolving into mana and that mana becoming a part of you." "Alright." Garrett said exasperated. "You are my guide after all." Garrett floated over and tried following Blixie''s instructions. After several seconds, the boxes and the food inside seemed to dissolve into particles of mana before being absorbed by Garrett. "So, now what?" "So, now you should have the knowledge of how the mana forms those items. You can use your mana to recreate them and use them as rewards to draw in adventurers." "Can I do that with the coins and crystals I got from before?" "You have coins already?" Blixie asked excitedly. "I didn''t think you would get some until you were able to kill your first adventurer. To answer your question, yes you can use your mana to recreate pretty much anything you absorb. You just have to picture the item in your mind and then add mana to it." Garrett focused on the image of an apple that he had absorbed from the crate. Slowly a green transparent image of an apple formed in his mind. He pushed his mana into the image like he did with the stone. His mana filled the image like water into a pitcher. Slowly the apple took on a ruby red hue. When the image was full of mana and looked like an apple freshly plucked from a tree Blixie told him to imagine placing the apple within his influence. Garrett imagined the apple resting on the floor near where the crates were. A small flash of light appeared on the floor, then winked out quickly. Garrett and Blixie looked with excitement at the first item Garrett had created, the first step to becoming a truly great dungeon. On the floor where Garrett Imagined the apple to be appeared a small seed. "Huh!?" Blixie said perplexed. Chapter 5 "It should have been an apple right?" Garrett asked. Garrett and Blixie stared at the small seed both of them confused at why it was not an apple. "You pictured an apple right?" Blixie asked. "Yea. When I did I saw a green ghost like apple in front of me." Garrett replied timidly. "Then you pushed your mana into that image?" Blixie was perplexed. This should have been a very easy for any dungeon to do. "Yes. When I did the image of the apple slowly filled in until it looked like a real apple." Garrett said with a bit more confidence. "Then why the hell did you create an apple seed instead of an apple!?" Blixie yelled."It should be a simple thing to create a copy of anything you have absorbed, unless it is enchanted. You would learn the enchantment of the item you absorbed but you would still only be able to make a copy of the base item. You would have to apply the enchantment yourself." "I don''t know but you don''t have to yell at me for it. I''m still learning the basic things that every other dungeon is born knowing, remember?" Garrett said with a bit of bitterness and sadness in his voice. Blixie looked at Garrett with a deep sigh. "I''m sorry I yelled at you. I''m just frustrated that you are having these problems. I was just so excited to finally get assigned a dungeon to guide and hoped to just jump into the exciting parts." Blixie apologized."But you don''t have to be so sarcastic with me." She finished with a huff. Garrett stared at Blixie confused. "Thanks for the apology, but what do you mean by sarcastic?" Blixie hung in the air slack jawed. "Are you asking me what sarcasm is?" "If that is another word for sarcastic then yes." Garrett responded. "That must be one of the memories that was lost." Blixie mumbled to herself. Blixie looked up and saw Garrett starting at her, which was a weird feeling since he didn''t have eyes or a face in general. Blixie quickly waved it away. "Don''t worry about it. It''s not important." "You said I lost memories right?" Garrett asked sadly. "How do I get them back?" "Oh, right." Blixie said mournful. "You wouldn''t remember losing your memories. Makes sense." Blixie perked up trying to change the dreary mood that had settled over them. "Well, when you die and your soul is placed into the dungeon core you lose some of your memories. Mostly those tied to human connections and ethics. Imagine how hard it would be to be a dungeon that doesn''t want to kill to get stronger." Garrett chuckled. "I think I can imagine that." "Oops, I forgot that you don''t want to kill people. We''ll figure that out. Anyway, sometimes other memories are forgotten as well. Names of items, animals, sometimes even your own name. As far as I know there is no way to recover those memories either. Sorry Garrett." They sat in silence for a while. Blixie gave Garrett time to come to terms with the new information and Garrett processed the loss of his memories. Suddenly Garrett spoke up quite cheerfully. "Well, since I can''t remember what I have forgotten, I can''t really be sad about the loss of what was lost. So let''s just look forward to the new memories we will make and the new things we will learn." Blixie was stunned with how fast Garrett came to terms with the loss of his memories. "That is a great attitude Garrett." Blixie said cheerfully. "Let''s try making that apple again." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Garrett went through the steps of making another apple. He saw the green translucent apple, saw it fill with mana and become more solid, then tried placing the apple on the floor. Another apple seed appeared. Garrett grumbled with irritation and tried again. Another seed. He tried again. Another seed. He kept trying to make an apple altering his process a little bit each time, Blixie provided any knowledge she could. Everytime he finished only an apple seed would appear. After about the twentieth seed Blixie spoke up. "Maybe it''s part of being a dungeon that has access to all the elements." "What do you mean?" "Like I mentioned with your inability to create monsters, because you have access to all the elements you also have some restrictions. I want you to try something. Try making one of the crates that you absorbed." "Alright. Give me a minute." Garrett focused on the image of a crate. He saw the ghost like image followed by slowly filling it with his mana. It took a bit longer than the apple did to finish and a bit more mana. When the image had fully filed up with mana he tried placing it on the ground. A small flash of light appeared then vanished same as before. What appeared on the ground was a tiny acorn. "Just what I thought would happen." Blixie exclaimed. "Could you please explain to me what is going on?" Garrett asked thoroughly confused. "Well, normally dungeons can make a copy of anything they have absorbed but depending on the dungeons element some items are easier to create than others." Blixie paused to make sure Garrett was paying attention. "For example, fire element dungeons are great at creating weapons and armors but are horrible at getting any kind of normal plant to grow. A water element dungeon can make great potions but usually can only get water based plants like lotus flowers and kelp to grow, so forth and so on. Do you follow so far?" "I believe so, but since I have access to all the elements I should be great at making anything right?" "Eventually yes, but for now you can only make things from a very early or young phase it seems. Not great right now I agree but as you gain levels and grow stronger so too will your creations. If I''m right about this, even the monsters you summon in the future will start off in a infant like stage but will grow rapidly. I can''t wait to see what you will get for your first monsters." Garrett suddenly felt something new. A feeling of something not quite right, like something was out of place. He looked around and realized that his influence managed to reach the wall with the glowing blue mushrooms. He quickly flew off toward them with excitement and the possible gains he would get off of them. Blixie stared after him. "Where are you going?" She flew after him curious at what would distract him so much from their conversation. As soon as she got near him she gasped in excitement. "So you can reach the mushrooms now. That is amazing. Garrett, this is so lucky for us." "What are they Blixie? They are rather nice looking." "They are called mana mushrooms Garrett. They are the main ingredient in mana potions and are highly sought after. They grow in very specific conditions so dungeons that can grow them are kind of rare but since you have access to all the elements you should have no problem growing them." Garrett quickly absorbed them and learned about the various properties of the mushrooms. He quickly tried making some and placing them on the wall where the other ones were. He felt the mana being used and he could sense the mushroom spores settle on the wall but couldn''t see them. "Hey Blixie, I know you said that what I make is going to be in a young state but is there anyway to make them grow faster?" "Not that I know of." Blixie replied. "In my lessons they talked about how dungeons could mutate their monsters by infusing them with different types of mana but since dungeons normally create everything they need they never said anything about making things grow faster." "You said that some dungeons can grow them though." "There aren''t really any useful mutations that can be made from them so the dungeons don''t waste mana on them and just let them grow wild." "Oh alright then." Garrett said sadly and slowly drifted around his small dungeon space periodically creating mana mushroom spores on the walls hoping they would grow quickly. Blixie felt bad for Garrett. She knew his access to all elements would allow him to be a great dungeon someday but it must be hard for him since learning he can''t make monsters or even items like a normal dungeon. Blixie suddenly got a great idea to cheer him up. "Hey Garrett I think you are forgetting there is one more thing dungeons can create." "And what is that?" Garrett replied sadly still placing down mushroom spores. "Traps." Blixie squealed with excitement. "I think you might like this part." "Hopefully I can create those right." Chapter 6 ¡°I think you are going to be really good at making traps based on how your core pillar looks." Blixie said excitedly trying to cheer Garrett up. "Making traps is pretty much just taking the dirt and other elements under your control and molding them into dangerous and intricate shapes to maim and kill the things that come into your dungeon." Blixie said as if repeating it out of a textbook. Garrett sighed. "I already told you I don''t want to maim and kill the people that come in." "It won''t just be people that enter your dungeon Garrett." Blixie huffed. "There will also be animals and the occasional monster that wander in, at least until you become strong enough for the adventurers guild to notice and start building a town around your entrance. what about them?" Images flashed through Garrett''s mind. People running in fear from small green creatures with big heads and sharp teeth. Giants walking through villages and stepping on houses. People being killed indiscriminately. Fires raging in the aftermath and children crying for the parent lying dead in front of them. "Do monsters attack people and villages outside of dungeons?" Garrett asked hesitantly. "Yes." Blixie stated. She didn''t want to scare Garrett but she knew he would need to relearn what kind of world this was. "There are monsters that roam outside of dungeons. That can be very dangerous for common folk but adventures are usually pretty good about keeping their numbers down and protecting villages." "Is there anything I can do besides wait for monsters to wander into my dungeon to help out the humans that would build a town near us?" Garrett sounded a bit more hopeful that there is a way for him to get stronger without killing people. "There is." Blixie was happy that Garrett was sounding a little less sad about his situation. "When you get strong enough you can learn to make wards that will keep out some wild monsters. The rest of them would need to be handled by the adventures. So by you becoming stronger and having your monsters fight the adventurers the adventurers in turn become stronger allowing them to protect the people outside of your dungeon." "Could I just have the monsters stand there and let the adventures kill them for the experience? That seems like it would be a lot faster." "Unfortunately no. Adventures only get stronger by pushing their skills and minds to the limit. You can''t get stronger if all you do is the easy things. Besides if all the monsters just stand around and no one dies inside your dungeon you won''t get experience and become stronger." "That makes sense I guess. So let''s focus on me getting strong enough to get a town built around us so we can start helping people." "That''s the spirit Garrett. Now I know you have been infusing the stone inside your influence that you can see but have you been infusing all the stone within your influence?" "Yes and no." Garrett quickly looked through his influence to check in on the mana inside the stone around him. "It looks like the mana is only going a few inches deep." "That''s no good. Nothing is going to die from a two inch deep pit tap. Remember mana travels through differently depending on what it is going into. Earth is very stubborn so you have to force your mana to where you want it to go. I want you to just focus on infusing all the stone within your influence." Garrett focused on the earth around him and started to work, losing himself in it. Several days later Garrett infused the last of the stone he could reach with his mana. There was a lot of stone in the floor for him to infuse, some in the walls he had managed to reach, and even a little bit of ceiling. "Hello?" Blixie said with a bit of worry in her voice. "Can you answer me Garrett?" "Of course I can answer you. I just haven''t heard you say anything for the last while." "Oh thank goodness." Blixie mumbled."I''ve been trying to get your attention for almost two days now. You didn''t talk. You didn''t respond to me. It was like you had reverted back to being just a dungeon running on instinct." "Sorry, I guess. I was just focusing on getting all the stone infused with my mana. Guess I lost track of time. I did get all the stone inside my influence infused though." "It''s fine. I''m just glad you are back to normal. So, how much of the room does your influence reach?" Garrett focused for a second and looked at where his influence was. "Looks like it goes from this back wall and almost to the door." "Great work Garrett. Let me tell you about traps now that you have enough room and material to work with. Traps come in a limitless variety. From simple ones like a hole in the ground to more advanced ones like counterweighted ceilings, and those are only the ones using the earth element. Let''s make a basic pit fall trap. Focus on the earth just in front of the door and absorb the earth down to about ten feet deep and make a hole a little wider than the door and just about as long." Garrett did as asked and started absorbing the stone. After a few feet down he had to forcefully expand his influence, down to the depth and width that Blixie had asked for. Once he was done he had a sudden spark of inspiration. He angled the walls of the pit so the bottom was larger than the top so anything trying to climb out would be practically climbing upside down. He also formed some spikes on the bottom that were about six inches long. He finished up the pit by making a thin cover of stone over the top and smoothed it out to match the rest of the floor. Blixie watched as Garrett worked to make the pit with a critical eye. It may be a basic trap but she was taught that you could tell a lot about a dungeons current skills and personality by the style of traps they make. When Garrett finished his pit a few hours later she was about to congratulate him and move onto some other types of traps, when Garrett started to modify the pit she had asked him to make. So she stayed quiet and waited to see how he would personalize it. When he added the sloped walls and spikes she was impressed by his forethought and creative thinking for a dungeon at his level. She was glad when Garrett put the cover over the pit. At least he isn''t completely hopeless. She thought to herself. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "I added a few things I thought of when I was making the pit." Garrett told Blixie after he was satisfied with his work. "I hope that is okay." He finished meekly. "Okay? It''s great." Blixie praised him excitedly. "I am just here to guide you and answer your questions, not to tell you exactly how to build your dungeon. I''m excited to see the things you added. They are great ideas for a basic pit trap. Just wait until you have access to other elements. So I hope you can now understand how traps can have an almost unlimited amount of variety." Garrett practically vibrated with excitement. "Shh!" Blixie suddenly whispered. "Do you hear that?" Garrett strained to hear what Blixie was talking about. He soon heard a small squeaking sound coming from the hall that lead outside his room. "What is that sound?" Garrett said. "Shh!" Blixie whispered harshly. "You don''t want to scare it away." They waited for a few minutes, the only sound heard was the sound of the squeaking slowly getting louder. After a few minutes Garrett saw a rat the size of a medium dog poke its twitching nose into the room. "Come on. Just a bit more." Blixie whispered. Garrett was transfixed by the rat as it poked its head in a little further, looking around for danger or food Garrett was unsure. The rat sniffed the ground where Garrett had placed his trap. It lifted its nose sniffing the air as it put a foot tentatively into the room. With a sudden squeak and hiss it turned its head toward Blixie and stared at her. Garrett became nervous that Blixie was about to be eaten and there was nothing he could do about it. The rat lunged into the room with an unexpected speed easily clearing twelve feet and landing past the trap. Garrett became frantic and yelled out. "Run Blixie." Blixie had learned about a lot of different monsters during her lessons and knew about the capabilities of the dire rat so she had been more prepared when it leapt. She readied herself for when the rat charged again. "Don''t worry Garrett, it can''t see you and since your core is not food you will be fine." The rat leapt again mouth wide to gobble up the small pixie. Blixie quickly flew to the side to avoid the rats bite laughing lightly. "Come on you overgrown flea bag." She taunted while wiggling her butt at the rat. "Come get a nice big snack." "Why are you taunting it?" Garrett was shocked that Blixie wasn''t scared of this thing. It looked like she was even enjoying it. "I have an idea Garrett. Remember what I said about pixies being fighters? Just watch and learn." Blixie shot around the room narrowly avoiding becoming the rats next meal. The rat furiously jumped at the pixie over and over, hunger overriding any sense of logic it might have had. By now Garrett had calmed down after seeing Blixie avoid the rats attacks for the last few minutes. He started to get curious about what Blixie had in mind for defeating the rat. His answer came soon enough when Blixie avoided a bite and flew over to the door. The rat leapt straight at Blixie and missed when she flew backwards with a big frown on her face. "Sorry flea bag but that was your last chance." The rat landed heavily on the ground and with a crackle the floor underneath it gave way. Blixie had gotten the rat to jump right into the middle of Garrett''s trap. The rat gave out a frightened squeak as it plummeted into the pit and was impaled on the spikes below. Garrett felt a rush of energy as the rat died and it''s experience was funneled into him. Garrett now understood why other dungeons would kill to gain experience. The euphoria that spread through him was addictive. A soft chime emitted from his gem and drew his attention from the all consuming euphoria of gaining experience. "Did you hear that Blixie?" He asked. "I certainly did." Blixie replied beaming with pride and excitement. "That sound means you leveled up. Go ahead and check your status."
Name: Garrett Species: Dungeon Level: 2
Exp: 100 Exp to next lvl: 400 Element:none
40/40 MP Unused skill points: 1 Boss Monsters : 0
Special abilities: Unseen Force Level 3, Earth Shaping Level 3
Monsters available: None
Garrett excitedly looked over his status. "I have more mana. That is going to be great for increasing my influence. Hey Blixie, what are skill points used for?" Garrett asked. "When you level up you will get skill points that can used to acquire new skills. You can also get some skills by having someone teach you. Sometimes you can unlock skills by simply doing an action enough times." "So if someone can learn a skill by just doing it then what is the point of the skill points?" "Well, people usually don''t spend points on the skills that are easy to learn but there are advanced skills that take years to acquire. Why spend years practicing to get a skill when spending a point on it instills the same knowledge." "That sounds amazing, and kind of like cheating somehow." "How is it cheating if that is just how the world has worked since the beginning. It''s like saying that you are cheating by being a dungeon that doesn''t have to eat to survive while almost every other living, and some undead, creatures have to." Garrett thought about it for a minute. "I guess you have a point. So how do I spend them." "We will get to that in a minute, but first we have the opportunity to get your first monster." Garrett quickly forgot about spending his skill point when he heard about getting his first monster. "Go ahead and absorb the rat just like you did with the boxes. You are going to want to do that to anything that dies in your dungeon. Not only will that allow you to get the mana patterns for them but it will keep your dungeon clean." Garret quickly flew over to the pit and absorbed the rat. He also fixed the cover of the trap and absorbed the blood covering the spikes while he was there. When he finished Garrett visualized the rat that had just been killed. He became more and more excited as the image was filled with mana. It took more mana than either of the two seeds that he had created before. By the time the ethereal image of the rat had solidified he had spent half his mana. He knew that he was going to get a baby rat and it wouldn''t be a threat to anything but he didn''t care. It would be his first monster. There was plenty of time for it to grow before adventurers would come in, he hoped. Garrett focused on a spot and summoned the rat. Nothing happened. He focused on the visualization of the rat and saw it floating in his vision looking like a solid rat ready to scamper across the floor. Again he focused on a spot on the floor and willed the rat to be summoned. Nothing. "Are you going to create a rat or do I need to tell you how to create things again?" Blixie said slightly annoyed. She was excited to start having Garrett create monsters so they could really make a proper dungeon. "I tried." Garrett said back angrily. "Twice. Why is it not working Blixie?" Garrett groaned. Blixie stared at Garrett wide eyed. "You tried twice to create one? How did it not work?" "That''s what I want to know. I visualized it just fine, and it filled up with mana like the ones before, but when I focused on a spot to create it nothing happened." "What the hell!?" Blixie yelled out. Chapter 7 "Why won''t it work?" Blixie groaned. "We know that when you make something it comes out as a young form. You made seeds when you tried to make the apples or a box." Blixie had a sudden thought. "If there were boxes and apples here and..." Blixie glanced over to the skeleton leaning against the wall, "other things, then there would be a good chance there was more here. Have you absorbed anything else?" "I absorbed the sun stone." Garrett wiggled the little ball of light he held suspended near the center of the room. Blixie rolled her eyes at his antics. "I also found some coins and some crystals." He pulled out a copper coin, a silver coin, his only gold coin, and one of the quartz crystals out of his inventory and placed them on the ground. "That will work." Blixie said, pleased with the items Garrett had put on the ground. "Now try making one each of the items using your mana." Garrett focused on the copper coin first. As the ghostly image appeared before him a glint of light caught his eye. He looked over at the silver coin that reflected the light of the sun stone at him. A second ghostly image appeared before him, that of the silver coin. He stared at both of the translucent coins floating in his vision and wondered if he could summon more than just one thing at a time. That would save a lot of time Garrett thought. He pictured the gold coin floating next to the others and a spectral image of it appeared. Elated he quickly imagined the crystal as well. Once all four images were floating in his mind, he began to fill them with mana. It took a little longer for the images to fill compared to just summoning one but when they were all full, he focused on a spot and summoned them. After the flash of light dissipated Garrett and Blixie looked at the floor and saw small chunks, they could barely even be called crumbs, of metal. Flakes of copper, silver, and gold laid on the floor with a small speck of quartz crystal next to them. "I thought there would be more." Garrett muttered as he looked at his mana points to see how much it took to create all four of the items. "That took almost all of my mana!" Garrett huffed. "Why? They are smaller than an apple seed." "The higher the quality and the rarer the item you create the more mana it is going to take." Blixie said in her teaching voice. "Hmm. Since they came out as chunks of ore I can guess that any item you try to create is going to be a raw unprocessed version. How is that even going to work!?" She yelled and started to pace in the air. "Well, I don''t think I have to worry too much about that since I am not thinking of making my dungeon out of metal." "Ugh!" Blixie groaned angrily. "If you can''t make items then what are your monsters going to drop when they are defeated so adventures are enticed to enter your dungeon?" "I think I see what you mean. Maybe I can gain a skill that will allow me to create items instead of just their base materials like you said I can with monsters. I still have that skill point remember?" "I forgot about that actually." Blixie said sheepishly. Blixie got a bit more excited after being reminded of that. "Let''s use that skill point of yours and gain a new skill. Let''s aim for a monster or item creation skill." About a minute passed by in silence when Blixie spoke up. "Let me guess, you don''t know how to spend your skill points?" Garrett bobbed up and down in confirmation. "Right. I forgot that you don''t really know anything." Blixie sighed. "Just bring up your status and focus on your unspent skill point." Garrett followed Blixie''s instructions and brought up his status then focused on the unspent skill.
Skill points available: 1
Skills available : Fire Shaping, Water Shaping, Air Shaping, Darkness Shaping, Light Shaping Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
"Damn it." Blixie huffed. "I thought there would be at least one monster option. Even goblins or kobolds would have been fine." "No use worrying about it now. Maybe at the next level we will get one." Garrett was a bit depressed about not getting an option for any monsters, but he tried to sound positive. A brief and fuzzy memory of someone saying ''fake it till you make it'' popped into his head, also a brief line from a song telling him to look on the bright side of death for some reason. "So which skill would you recommend?" "Right." Blixie said. "I wouldn''t go with Fire Shaping or Water Shaping since you don''t have access to either a source of fire or water right now. Darkness Shaping is good for hiding monsters which you don''t have. Light Shaping could be good to help you grow your apple and oak seeds but that would be all. So I would go with Air Shaping. It will let you circulate air through your dungeon so it won''t go stagnant and become harmful without needing to make air vents. For some weird reason adventurers like to breath." Blixie chuckled at her own joke while Garrett just floated there quietly. "Was that sarcasm?" Garrett asked? Blixie slapped her palm against her forehead. "Ugh." She groaned in frustration. "Why do you not know anything. No that wasn''t sarcasm. Well, it was sarcasm but it was suppose to be a joke." Garrett floated silently in front of Blixie. "Anyway, let''s just focus on what we can do. Which is expanding your influence and making traps. We''ll see if we can kill some more rats. That last one couldn''t have been the only one." Garrett quickly focused on Air Shaping and received a message.
Skill acquired : Air Shaping lvl 1
Garrett started pushing his mana into his influence trying to grow it as quickly as possible to try and find some more rats. After pushing all of his mana into his influence he noticed it had only grown a few inches in diameter Garrett sighed in resignation. Except for the emptiness of the room they were in and the little bit in the hallway his influence was in, all he could feel throughout his influence was more and more stone. Garrett wished there was a way to grow faster but the amount of mana he had at his disposal was very limiting. Suddenly Garrett remembered that he could ''limit'' his influence and make it grow not just in a sphere but however he wanted to. With this in mind he waited for his mana to fill back up. A few minutes passed and his mana had filled to full so he pushed more mana into his influence while focusing on having it just expand around and through the tunnel. His influence ballooned out down the hallway several feet by the time his mana had run out. "Now we''re in business!" Garrett shouted. Blixie looked at Garrett confused. "What is that suppose to mean?" Garrett stopped and thought. "I''m not sure. It just kind of popped out. Although I guess if you think about it we are providing goods and services to people, or will be soon. So I guess we are a business or is it trader?" "I don''t understand you Garrett. You know weird words that dungeons wouldn''t even care about and you are pretty quick to learn things, so far, but you have no common dungeon sense." With that said they started expanding Garretts dungeon down the corridor and into the start of the long adventure filled life of a dungeon. ******************************************** After a few weeks Garrett''s influence stretched down the tunnel, past a couple of other rooms, and ended just a few feet shy of the final opening to the outside world. He made sure to extend his influence about ten feet past the walls, floors, and ceilings. When Garrett first arrived within sight of the opening it was night time. Garrett couldn''t see anything outside though so he went back to working on everything else. Garrett got plenty of practice with his Earth Shaping and Air Shaping skills, with the help of Blixie''s advice, while making his traps. "I think we have a good start to your dungeon, even with not having any monsters." Blixie said rather proudly. "Thanks. I feel like we got pretty creative thanks to you teaching me about levers and wheels." Garrett was feeling very proud of himself with the traps he thought of. "I was surprised that I had to teach you about them." Blixie sighed. She lead Garrett down the tunnel toward the tunnel exit. "I think we are ready for the final push of your influence to the surface. Once that happens the adventurers guild will be able to detect your mana and start sending people to explore." "I just hope nobody dies." Garrett said hesitantly as he pushed all his mana into his influence to push it out into the world. Blixie just shook her head. "This is going to be a long assignment." Chapter 8 "Damn it. Why do we have to go out into the middle of nowhere to check out a new dungeon. This should be a job for the juniors." Growled a large man covered in leather armor with metal plates attached to the larger areas to add protection without sacrificing flexibility. "It could be that our skills are best suited for it, or maybe there were no juniors to send," said a slightly shorter, skinnier man in a dark blue robe with silver accents. "Or it could be that you pissed off the guild master by sleeping with his three daughters, Frank." He spat. "I can''t help it if the ladies love me, John." Frank replied, brushing his shoulder length brown hair out of his face. "Besides, the guild master has to realize that they are grown women and can make their own decisions." "I don''t think that was the problem. I think it was more that you slept with all three at the same time, in the guild hall store room." John replied annoyed. "Details, details, but I''m curious how did you hear about it? I thought the only people who knew about that were me, the girls,and the guild master." Frank looked curiously at his companion. "You weren''t exactly quiet nor were they." He replied. Frank shrugged. "What''s done is done. It''s already been a week since the guild detected the dungeon and we left the next day. Let''s just go get this over with and by the time we get back the guild master will have forgiven me." John sighed. Why do I always get stuck with this guy. He looked around at their surroundings trying to find ways to make the trip easier for others through the forest they had been walking through for days. Unlike his companion who had been complaining to much on this trip. Soon enough the trees became sparse as they found a clearing with a cave in a small cliff face. A worn out and broken wooden sign sat on a post outside it. From what they could see of the sign it would have depicted a pine tree with a snake underneath and a pair of crossed blades over top. "What group do you think that symbol belongs to?" Frank asked as he looked over to John. "The green blades." John replied instantly. "Always wondered where their hideout was." "Who are the green blades? I''ve never heard of them." "Sometimes I forget how short of a memory you humans have. They were a fairly famous band of brigands, assassins, and mages gone bad. But they disappeared about a hundred and fifty years ago I think. " "Sorry we humans can''t live as long as you elves but I think we have more fun and enjoy our time a lot more." Ugh. John thought. "Do you think of anything besides booze, food, or women?" "I think about fights sometimes." Frank replied laughing not realizing John was trying to insult him. "Well at least that is something different." He mumbled. "If it has been over a hundred years since they abandoned this cave, there is probably nothing of note in there that the dungeon could have absorbed but that doesn''t mean it couldn''t have absorbed a few forest animals to add to its repertoire of monsters." "I just hope it has something to make this trip worth it." Frank growled and remembered that they still had about a week long trek back to the guild. They approached the cave opening cautiously. Frank pulled a large shield off his back, it was about half his size with the symbol of the guild, a bird triumphantly flying out of a fire, emblazoned on it, and his sword from its scabbard on his hip. John made a gesture with his hand and a tall white staff with a large blue gem on top appeared in his hands with a poof and a small flurry of snowflakes. John fed a small amount of his mana to the gem to get it to glow so they would have light while in the dungeon. They entered the cave and immediately noticed that the floor, walls, and ceiling were perfectly smooth. "Definitely a dungeon here." Frank said. When they looked around the room they noticed that nothing was there. No monsters. No obvious traps. Just a door across from the entrance about ten feet from them. "That''s weird." John said. "Not much of a dungeon so far. No monsters, smooth floor and walls." "Just means it''s going to be easy." Frank said with confidence. "Let''s hope." They investigated the door and found it to be a simple door made of stone that had no handle. "How are we suppose to open it without a handle, smash it?" Frank said lifting his sword. "Is that your answer to everything?" John shook his head and went back to studying the door. "Ah, I see." John found writing along the edge of the door. "It is just a simple puzzle. You really need to learn to look carefully before you just smash things." He told Frank. "Smashing things usually works for me though." Frank replied happily. "Less complicated that way." "Ugh. Let''s see what it says. ''Heavy is the heart that kills without reason. Heavier is the heart that survives where others have died.''" "I hate riddles." Frank groaned. "They are so pointless." John looked around the door and soon found two small handles that were almost flush with the floor. "This is a low level dungeon indeed." He ruminated. "I am impressed that the dungeon can do words and written riddles already but it is a very simple one. We just have to lift the door." John pointed out the handles to frank. "Alright. Easy enough." Frank put his sword and shield away, grabbed the handles and strained to lift the door. "It''s heavier than I thought it would be." Slowly the door lifted into the ceiling as Frank huffed. He managed to lift the door up above his head before the strain started to get to him. "Hurry and get through before I drop this thing." John strode through the open doorway with a confidence fueled by having worked with Frank for a few years and many decades of diving dungeons before that. He knew nothing the dungeon could throw at them would even be much of a danger much less kill them until they had reached at least the twenty fifth floor or so. That confidence was shaken as soon as he took his first couple steps past the door and he heard a crack from the floor beneath him. In the split second it took for the floor beneath him to crumble and fall away, the light of the crystal atop his staff flared and a sheet of ice raced from the base of it to the walls and about ten feet in front and behind him. "A trap right after the door. Interesting. This dungeon might be interesting yet Frank." "Hurry up and move so I can come through. I think the door just got heavier." Sweat started beading on Frank''s forehead. John continued walking down the hallway, across the ice sheet he created to save himself from falling. Frank pushed up on the door and quickly stepped through as the door slammed onto the ice sheet behind him. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Both Frank and John turned their heads as the sound of cracking was heard. They looked down as cracks in the ice spread from where the door had come down. "Damn it." Frank cursed as they ran down the hall and off of the ice sheet. They looked back and saw the ice crumble into a hole in the floor that was as wide as the hall but was only about eight feet or so long. "That would have been annoying to crawl out of if we had fallen in, and the spikes on the bottom would have hurt a little I think." "It would be quite dangerous for some of the initiates in the guild but that''s all. You said the door became heavier after I almost fell into the pit?" Frank nodded. "The riddle makes more sense though." John remarked."I''m more curious that there are no monsters attacking us yet." They looked around and found they were in a room quite a bit larger than the last one. It was about thirty feet across with the same smooth walls and floor with a door across from them and a door on their right. "Let''s see if there are any other traps shall we?" John stepped behind Frank. "Gladly." Frank took a step forward, lifted his foot and focused his small pool of mana into it. "Quake." He growled as he slammed his foot onto the ground. A shockwave rolled across the room shaking it slightly as it went. A second passed, then another before a couple of sections of floor fell away revealing more pitfalls scattered across the room. ********************************************** Garrett floated near the ceiling following the adventurers as they passed through his weighted door riddle and past his first pitfall trap. I thought they would have more trouble with that. He thought. He would have to ask Blixie for her opinion on it when he got back to his core room where she was watching what he saw through his crystal. I hope they don''t just do that ice sheet through the whole thing. That would just be lazy and unfair. He watched as the smaller one stepped back as the big guy stepped forward. Maybe that move uses a lot of mana so he doesn''t want to use it to much. The big guy mumbled something and slammed his foot down. Garrett''s curious expression turned into one of disbelief as the covers on all his pitfall traps shattered and fell away revealing the maze like pattern across the room. Oh come on. He yelled in his mind. He continued to follow the first set of adventures to come explore his dungeon. He hadn''t had anything come in past the first room since killing that first rat. He was excited to see how they would handle his traps but his excitement dwindled quickly as the two went from room to room and either the small one froze the entire floor or the other one slammed his foot down shaking the whole room and causing the covers of his pits to fall. He got some amusement when they triggered a couple of traps that caused rocks to fall from the ceiling as they passed along a path between two pits. Garrett was surprised when the big one just lifted his shield and deflected them since some of the rocks were about half the size of the guy. The adventures explored everywhere they could. They found a couple of rooms that had been, by Garrett''s guess, some storage rooms. He had absorbed the old crates, barrels, and bags of old food stuffs just because he wanted a nice clean dungeon. A couple of long empty rooms where Garrett had found some old, what could barely have been considered, beds that he had absorbed, met the two at a few of the dead ends. By the time the adventures had reached the door to Garrett''s core room, he was impressed that none of his traps could surprise them. There were a couple that had come close like the spikes that had shot out of a tunnel wall, but the big guy was really good at moving his shield quickly and intercepted them before they could skewer the smaller one. The big one seemed to get angrier as they worked their way through the dungeon but Garrett couldn''t understand why. Did I not provide them with enough traps? Should I have increased the difficulty of them? When the adventures saw the door to Garrett''s core room the big one was practically shaking the tunnel with each of his steps. Garrett wasn''t sure what they would do if they were able to get into his core room but he was confident in the strength of that final door. The stone was about a foot thick and he had put a greater amount of pressurized air above this door than that first one. He was still confused why he could put a door between his core room and the outside but not a wall. The way that Blixie had explained it was because the mana needed a concept of continuity and flow through the dungeon and a wall would have blocked that and since it was the only way out of this room a door was the only logical way for added protection. The adventures walked over to the door and inspected it thinking it was like the first one but this one didn''t have any way to grab on to it. It also didn''t have a riddle. When the big adventure walked up to it and placed his hand on the door a sudden chill went through Garrett. *********************************************** Frank was pissed when they saw the plain door in front of them. They had been in this dungeon for only about half an hour but they had gone through quite a few rooms and there had not been any monsters for him to fight, only traps . No monsters means no loot. No loot means no food or booze. "I don''t see any writing like the last door, or any handles." John said. "But the fact that this dungeon has only been open to the world for about a week I am kind of impressed with the amount of traps and the thought that has gone into them." "I don''t care how well thought out you think these traps are. We haven''t run into any monsters or signs of treasure." Frank growled out softly. He sheathed his sword, walked up to the door, placed his hand on it, and focused his mana through his hand and into it. "Earth Sense." His mana rushed through the thick stone reverberating off the edges and back to him giving him a sense of the door. "This should be the door to the core room at least so we are almost done. Then we can go back to the guild and put in our report." Frank growled loudly. "What''s wrong?" John inquired. Frank released his shield from his arm and grabbed it by the edge as he pulled his sword, still in its scabbard, from his hip and placed the tip on the side of his shield about half way down. He closed his eyes and spoke something so quietly that even John with his enhanced elven ears couldn''t make it out. The sword and shield glowed lightly as he pushed the sword into the shield about six inches. The sides of the shield became razor sharp and the sword melded with the scabbard it was in. Frank opened his eyes as the glow from his newly formed axe faded. John stepped back a few feet. He knew whenever Frank used the axe form of his weapon things were about to get messy. Frank pulled his axe back as far as he could and with a mighty yell swung it at the door as hard as he could. "Quake." He yelled. His axe slammed into the door causing it to physically ripple as the energy of his skill rampaged through the stone. He quickly pulled his axe back and repeated the blow sending another Quake rolling through the door. The vibrations ran amok and crashed into each other increasing the power and damage. A few seconds later the door crumbled into rubble with a blast of compressed air releasing from above it. "Ingenious." John said amazed by the creativity of the dungeon. "The compressed air above the door keeps it closed and when you lift it the air just becomes more compressed causing the door to become heavier. This is really advanced for a dungeon so young. We will certainly have to report this to the guild leader." Frank walked into the next room and saw the core pillar with a small glowing green gem near the top. The anger and frustration he had felt flared and tinted his vision red. He didn''t care that they were there to scout the dungeon. He wasn''t interested in how the traps worked or how a dungeon that had been open for only about a week could devise such traps. He just knew that the two weeks he was spending away from the guild had now become worthless. Frank instinctively focused his mana on his legs and jumped the entire distance to the core pillar avoiding the unseen pitfall traps just behind the door and slammed his axe into the gem shattering it and shearing off the top of the pillar. "Damn it Frank. What did I say about not smashing everything." John yelled. "Now this dungeon is useless." "Not like we were going to get anything out of it." Frank replied waving his hand around the room. "There is nothing here unless you want a skeleton." **************************************** Hidden in a corner of the room by the ceiling a pixie watched as the big adventurer shattered the dungeon core she was bonded with. "Well that was a short assignment." She huffed. Chapter 9 Ugh! Did someone get the number of that bus? Garrett groaned. He looked around and saw only darkness. Garrett instinctively knew that only pure emptiness surrounded him. What happened? Where am I? He said as pain spiked through whatever was considered to be a brain for a floating ball of energy. "Your core was shattered." Replied a deep voice from everywhere and nowhere. "I''m a little surprised that you didn''t survive a longer Garrett." "Who are you?" Garrett yelled into the nothingness. "Where are you?" "Oh, I apologize. Let me just change up the scenery real quick." The darkness faded and was soon replaced with a room about twenty feet on each side. Shelves full of books in various sizes and colors lined the walls. Garrett didn''t recognize any of the symbols on them. A wooden table surrounded by six chairs sat in the center of the room. On top of it sat a couple more books, a large map, some small people shaped figures, and a couple of odd shaped metal bottles. "There we go, that''s better." An older gentleman appeared in one of the chairs. He had short cropped black hair with some white showing through and a small beard to match. He was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt with a dragon facing off against a party of adventurers printed on it. "Good to see you again my friend even though the I wish it was under better circumstances." "Who are you and what is all this stuff?" Garrett continued to look around amazed at the items around him. Some of them felt familiar but he couldn''t understand why or how. The older man looked at Garrett with worry and sighed. "I guess more of your memories were locked away than I thought." He waved his hand toward Garrett and images crashed through Garrett''s mind paralyzing him. A few minutes passed as the knowledge and memories flooded Garrett''s mind. He looked over at the older man. "George? " He said remembering the older man. "What are you doing here?" George threw his head back with a throaty laugh. "I''m glad to see you remember me now. Before I answer your question, let me ask you. What do you remember before waking up here?¡° ¡°I remember a couple of adventurers exploring my dungeon then shattering my core.¡± Garrett gasped. ¡°Am I dead?¡± ¡°In a way, but what I meant was what do you remember before waking up as a dungeon core?¡± Garrett focused on all the new memories floating through his mind and managed to grab a hold of a one of him and a few of his friends driving in a car. ¡°I remember being in a car with some friends. We were on our way to a gaming convention I believe. You weren¡¯t there because you said you had some important business to take care of. The rest is a bit fuzzy.¡± ¡°I guess people don¡¯t really remember their deaths, I¡¯ll have to remember that.¡± ¡°Wait, I died? What about the others?¡± ¡°Yes, you and your friends died when you were going through a tunnel. A gas tanker crashed near the middle causing people to slam on their brakes. No one got hurt and even the truck driver came out alive, until someone crashed into a car near the entrance of the tunnel while texting on their phone. I swear people on your world are just inventing new ways to kill themselves. Anyway, the tanker caught on fire but the tunnel lacked proper ventilation and emergency tunnels due to a shady construction company cutting corners and you all died from smoke inhalation." Garrett floated there with his metaphorical jaw glued to the floor. "Alright." Garrett shook himself out of his surprise. "Let me get this straight. You are not from our world, my friends and I died in a traffic accident, and then I woke up as a dungeon core." Sudden flashes of books and anime appeared in Garrett''s mind. "That means I reincarnated in a new world. So that makes you what, the god of chaos or something?" "Yes to you reincarnating, yes to me being a god, and no to the god of chaos who technically doesn''t exist." "How does a god technically not exist?" "The god that people call the god of chaos is actually the god of probability. He calculates various futures based on several millions of variables and steers the world away from destruction by using the smallest nudges that, by the time something happens to someone, it seems like a random happenstance. He''s very serious and honestly quite boring, always muttering to himself and fiddling with that absurd abacus of his. Maybe I should introduce him to your world and their computers." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "In the stories I''m familiar with people always get reincarnated because of the god of chaos or a goddess of some sort, and since you don''t look like a goddess then what are you the god of?" "History. Tradition. Stories. Take your pick. Pretty much anything passed down through the spoken or written word." George waved his hand emphasizing the bookshelves around them. "Sounds like you would be very busy since history is always happening. So why come to our world?" "Because very little of the history of this world actually gets written down, and the majority of what is passed on verbally is just housewives gossiping. It gets very boring." George sighed. "When I found your world I was amazed at all the history and stories that had been written down. I spent a few decades just sitting in libraries throughout your world amazed at the sheer amount of books your people had made. I even brought over the god of knowledge one day to show him. Last I saw of him he was fascinated by books on macram¨¦." "I guess that makes sense, from what little I saw of the adventurers it looks like this is a world ruled by magic and might, but that doesn''t explain why you were hanging out and playing Dungeons and Dragons with us." George chuckled. "I guess you forgot about the part where I said I was the god of spoken stories as well as written ones. When I found out about tabletop role playing games I was dumbfounded. You were just inventing histories of worlds that you didn''t know wether they existed or not, and you were placing yourselves into that history. I had never seen anything like it." "So people in your world don''t make up stories?" "No. They either don''t have the time because they are working, or they are illiterate. Besides, they don''t need to make up stories of magic and monsters when it is an everyday occurrence and the level of technology is around what would be the medieval period in your world, so the mere idea of computers or cars or even electric lights is unfathomable." "I''m glad we could introduce you to that experience then, but why did you reincarnate just me then?" Garrett said sadly. "Is there a limit to how many people can be brought over?" Garrett perked up from a thought. "Or did they survive and it was just me that died?" "I''m sorry to tell you Garrett but your friends did die in that tunnel as well." Garrett slowly floated down onto a chair as if he was sitting down. "But, I was able to bring them over as well." George reached over and picked up a small wooden box, placed it on the table, and opened it revealing seven indentations. "I did have to follow the rules set by the council of gods so I placed your soul into a dungeon core and theirs into monster cores. I was inspired for their unique cores by the rune stones we used for the tabletop games we would play." Garrett shot back up excited at the prospect of seeing his friends again, but then remembered that his core had been shattered and slowly floated back down to the chair. George noticed this and asked. "What''s wrong Garrett? I thought you would relish this opportunity." "I''m glad my friends are alive and get to experience this world but I''m sad that I won''t get to see them since my core was shattered." "Come now Garrett. What kind of gamer doesn''t keep around a spare set of dice or five." With a flourish of his hand George was holding a twenty side die that looked like Garrett''s old core but seemed to have small runes floating through it. Garrett''s joy soared at getting to experience this new world again and possibly getting to see his friends again but a thought occurred to him. "Before I go back can I ask a couple of questions that have been bugging me?" "I don''t see why not." George replied. "Why did I lose all my memories and why can''t I summon monsters or make items? "Well, when I brought the souls of you and your friends over there were some rules I had to follow. Most of them pertained to you as a dungeon core. Souls have migrated here every so often for centuries. In the beginning the gods allowed them to keep their memories from their past life but they would inevitably have issues. Either they would die slowly because they didn''t want to challenge or kill those that went into their dungeons, or they would go mad and attempt to destroy everything around them outside of their dungeon. "So the gods decided that all those reborn as dungeons, whether from our world or not, would have their memories wiped clean and a dungeon guide would be assigned to help them learn about this world and to guard against the dungeon running wild." "Are you going to get in trouble since you gave me back my memories?" "This is just me bringing you back from the dead. Since you were already a dungeon it shouldn''t be a problem. As for your monster and item problem, as a game master yourself I think you will appreciate if I leave a few mysteries for you to discover. After all, facing the unknown with your friends is half the fun of those tabletop games we used to play. Now let''s try this again Garrett and remember, you might still be a dungeon master, but you also get to be a player." The core in his hand grew brighter. Its light encompassed the room and blinded Garrett. Garrett tried to call out that he had more questions, but he fell into darkness before he could utter a word. With Garrett''s soul successfully stored inside his new dungeon core, George rolled it across the table and onto the map. "Goodbye my friend and good luck." Chapter 10 "Well, that was a short assignment!" Blixie quietly huffed while she hovered in a dark corner of the room near the ceiling. She had decided to wait in the cave she was in until the adventurers that were there left before leaving herself. She had just seen the big one leap across the room and smash the dungeon core she had been assigned so she figured he wouldn''t be in much of a talking mood right now. "Feel better?" The smaller adventurer asked as he walked into the room, a sheet of ice forming at his feet that suspended him above the spiked pit that had opened up at the door when the force of the big adventurer swept across the room. "A little." The big guy spat. "I''m pissed that the weeklong journey here was for nothing." He crunched the remains of the dungeon core beneath his boot. "It could have been something if we could have fed the dungeon and made it stronger." "What was there to get stronger? There were no monsters. No treasure. Just traps. Whoever heard of a dungeon with no monsters or treasure?" "It would have been a decent training ground for the recruits to practice noticing traps and dealing with them, besides I have heard of some dungeons starting to produce monsters after a monster trainer lost a pet to one or a stray monster was killed in it. This is why I keep telling you to think before you just smash things." The smaller adventurer sighed. "Let''s just get going." The big adventurer hoisted his sword-shield-axe thing, Blixie wasn''t quite sure what to call it, over his shoulder and started toward the door. "The sooner we get back the sooner we can forget this trip happened, and the less time the guild master''s daughters have to be lonely." He let out a big throaty laugh. "Ugh. This is why I hate working with bardbarians." The little one sighed and followed after his companion. After they left Blixie waited another ten or so minutes before coming down to inspect what was left of Garrett''s core. "They really did a number on you huh? Guess I will wait a bit more until I know they have left what used to be the dungeon then start heading back for another assignment." She waited for another half an hour before heading out the tunnel and through the dungeon. She flew quickly saddened by the open spike pits she saw. She believed that Garrett could have been a great dungeon, if only he had been able to summon some monsters. As she got closer to the exit cavern, she could feel a slight breeze blowing through what had been the first of Garrett''s pressurized doors. The big one must have smashed it like he had the other one on his way out. "I wonder how long it will be before I get another assignment." She flew through the final cave and was almost out of the cave when a flash of light and a light tinkling sound, like the ringing of a small bell, caught her attention. She looked back and laying on the floor was a small scroll. "Well, that was quick." She went and picked up the scroll, opened it, and quickly read through it. It was indeed her next assignment like she thought but quickly became confused. The scroll said her new dungeon core partner was near her. How? She wondered. Garrett was just destroyed and new dungeon cores could take years before they were ready for a guide, although it isn''t unheard of for several dungeons to be ready in a year. She flew out of the cave and up into the air. When she had a good view of the surrounding area, she focused on the ability she had acquired when she had become a dungeon guide. The ability activated and she could sense any dungeon near her and sure enough she was sensing a dungeon nearby. She could sense the new dungeon in the cave she had just left. That''s weird. Dungeons are never born near each other let alone in the same cave system. I''m pretty sure there were no tunnels leading off of the main one that Garrett hadn''t had his influence in. Blixie was confused but she had a job to do, so she flew right back into the cave following her dungeon sense ability. She flew back through the tunnels dutifully looking for her new dungeon core partner and trying to ignore the pits she flew over. Her dungeon sense couldn''t pinpoint where a dungeon core was but it could get her to within a few hundred feet so she checked all over the rooms and tunnels she passed through making sure she didn''t overlook any possible hiding place the core could be. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. She finally managed to get back to the cavern that had held Garrett''s core after about a frustrating hour of looking. This is stupid. I looked everywhere and still no core. There are no other tunnels out of this room or Garrett would have found them. All that''s here is this stupid skeleton. In a fit of anger, she flew over and kicked the skeleton''s skull off and causing the body to tip over. If only Garrett could have summoned some monsters to give those adventures something to kill this wouldn''t have happened. The sound of the skull bouncing of the wall and rolling along the floor slowly subsided as Blixie slowly floated to the floor and sat down. I didn''t think it would be this hard to lose a dungeon. Blixie thought sadly. I small green glow caught her eye. She looked over to the glow and saw that it was escaping between the boney fingers of the skeleton. Another green core? Did we miss it because it is the same color that Garrett was? She stood up and walked over to the hand that was about the same size as her and slowly pried open the skeleton''s fingers. Sitting on the palm was a small green gem with twenty equal sized triangular facets. It looks like Garrett''s core. He must not have seen it because it was the same type as him. That''s the only explanation. Remembering how she couldn''t hear Garrett''s voice until she bonded with him, she quickly pulled out her small dagger, pricked her finger, and let a single drop of her blood splash onto the gem. "Hello!" She said with enthusiasm. "I''m Blixie, and I''m here to be your dungeon guide. I hope we can work really hard together to make this the best dungeon we can." ¡°Hey Blixie, glad to see you survived. I''m guessing those adventures are gone?" Blixie fell to the floor mouth agape. "Garrett!?" Blixie managed to say after a few seconds. "How? Your core was destroyed." "You say that like it''s a bad thing." Garrett joked. "Let me guess, once a dungeon core is destroyed the soul is too." "Yes. I''ve never heard of a dungeon coming back after its core is gone." "I guess they should have been better friends to the god that put them in the core then." Garrett laughed. Blixie was stunned by Garrett''s sudden return and his apparent personality change. "What happened to you after your core was shattered." "Well, I met am old friend." Garrett proceeded to tell Blixie about his meeting with George the god of stories. "Let me get this straight. You''re from another world entirely?" "Yup." "That would explain the lack of common sense then, and you said your friends from that world died and were reborn in this world as well?" "That''s what George told me." "George, the god of stories who went to your world because he was curious, and you somehow made friends with him. Did he say what monsters your friends were reborn as?" "No, but he did say their cores were unique and that they resemble the dice we used when playing our games. I''m hoping to go find them." "How? You can''t really move." "You taught me how to move when I made my dungeon core pillar. I just have to move the dirt underneath me." "You could do that, I guess. You might be able outpace a snail at least, but I think it would be very conspicuous for a dungeon core to be pretty much rolling around on the ground everywhere. Someone is bound to notice you and grab you. You would be defenseless without your traps which can''t move with you." Garrett thought for a minute and came up with what her thought was a great idea. He took the sword out of his inventory and used Unseen Force to swing it around. ¡°I can defend myself with this sword at least." "That''s a little better but there are still a couple of problems with that. One, you can''t even swing it properly. It looks like a child tied a rope to the handle and is just flailing around. Two, a dungeon core rolling around with a sword flying around it is just begging to be captured and studied. Three, active dungeon skills can''t be used while there are other creatures inside your influence." Garrett floated there staring at Blixie, the sword hanging limply in the air next to him. He thought about what he had done with his Unseen Force ability before and remembered playing with the coins. He tried using a mana thread at each end of the sword and controlled both at the same time. He started slowly with just some basic swinging motions and found he had a lot more control than before. Following Blixie''s advice, he soon had the sword spinning and slicing, stabbing and swooping from various angles that a normal person wouldn''t be able to accomplish. "That at least solves the sloppy swordsmanship you had before. It''s not great, but it''s better. It doesn''t solve the whole flying sword above a dungeon core rolling around outside a dungeon issue though." Garrett thought for a bit and looked around the room. "I think I have a perfect idea." Garrett said excitedly. Chapter 11 "This is a stupid plan." Blixie groaned. "It''s not going to work." "It will work." Garrett retorted. ¡°It''s just a little bit harder than I thought it would be." "That''s because dungeons aren''t supposed to move like this. They¡¯re not suppose to move at all actually." "I know that but George said my friends are out there and I want to go find them. I just need a bit more practice and maybe a few more levels in Unseen Force." Ding. "Finally. Unseen Force just leveled up. I think it should give me enough threads for this to work well enough." "I hope so. You have playing around with that skeleton for over a week now and have been neglecting any sort of improvement to your influence." Garrett looked over the skeleton that was currently being held up by the mana threads of his Unseen Force ability like a marionette doll. He quickly used the new threads provided by his skill leveling up to add some support and a bit more control around the knees. "I''m not going to increase my influence since you told me that I can''t use my skills if there are others inside it. I want to go faster than a snail so, like you said, moving the ground under me is no good since it would draw attention." "But why use the skeleton? I don''t understand that part of the plan." ¡°When I first awoke to this world and started playing around with the Unseen Force skill I threw the bag that held my core and I went with it. After that, when I would try to grab my core directly the skill would slip off it like it wasn''t even there. Since I can''t grab my core directly I can put my core inside the bag and have the skeleton carry it." "But then people will see a skeleton wandering around which will be just as alarming." Blixie said. "Oh, if you can find some armor or clothes to cover it in then people will think that it is just another person. That''s pretty clever." She said excitedly. "Thanks Blixie. It took me a while to figure out how to use the mana threads to tie two things together without having to focus on them but I''m glad it worked so I could reconnect the bones together." Clack. Clack. Clack. Garret practiced walking the skeleton across the room and back again, making sure it was a smooth walk. He even gave a few practice swings with the sword held by the skeleton. "I think we are almost ready to leave the cave and go see the world, although I am a little worried about getting some clothes before we get to a town." "It should be fine. If nothing else we can kill and skin a few animals for their hide. So let''s head out already." Garrett moved above and slightly behind the skeleton and started walking it out of the cave and down the tunnel. Garrett caught Blixie''s attention with a sudden laugh. "What''s so funny?" "The view from here reminds me of some of the video games I used to play." Garrett responded with a chuckle. "Video game? I understand the idea of the game but what does video mean?" Blixie asked confused. Garrett thought about how to describe the idea of television to Blixie who had probably never even heard of electricity. "The simplest way to describe it would be a moving image of a far away place being shown on a screen or window like thing." "Oh, like scrying.¡± ¡°Maybe, but you control one of the people.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Mind control is not very nice you know.¡± Blixie huffed. "It''s not...uhh. It''s more like a puppet that you control. So no mind control going on." Garrett looked around. "Man, they really did a number on my dungeon." Blixie looked at Garrett confused. "Is that one of your other world sayings?" "Yea. It means they really wrecked the place. I can''t believe they destroyed my pressurized doors. I was really proud of those, but I guess I don''t really need to worry about that now. I''m about to leave this cave behind and experience a whole new world that''s different from my old one." They reached the mouth of the cave after a few more minutes of walking when Garrett paused. "What''s wrong?" Blixie asked with concern. "Until I met George all I''ve known for the past few months is this small cave and now I''m about to step out into the unknown. It''s a bit intimidating.¡± "Well, you know me." Blixie stood cheerfully. "We can face the unknown together." "Thanks Blixie. That means a lot to me." "You''re welcome." Blixie smiled. "Also, you need to remember to have the skeleton look at who you are talking to or it might draw more attention than you want." "Thanks Blixie. I''ll try to remember that." Garrett took a deep breath, even though he doesn''t need to breath, to steady his nerves and stepped out of the cave and into a new life of adventuring. *************************************** ¡°You destroyed it!?¡± Shouted a man that was larger than life yet half the size of the men he was yelling at. "Why would you destroy it?" "It was a useless dungeon, guild master. The only things in there were simple pit traps. No monsters or treasure." Frank replied. He tried to convince himself he was only slightly intimidated by the guild master, but he had seen him throw people through the stone wall of the guild hall before. "It did have those pressurized doors that I found rather impressive for such a young dungeon." John commented. The short guild master jumped up onto his stone desk to stand eye to eye with Frank, his big, black, heavily braided beard practically slapped Frank in the chest. "I don''t care how useful you thought it was you big oaf. All dungeons can be useful if you know what you are doing." He spat. "We dwarves know a trick or two to make the most out of dungeons that most wouldn''t even spit at. We could have secured that dungeon and had exclusive access to it." Frank deflated in the face of the guild master''s tirade. "I''m sorry sir. I didn''t think..." "Of course you didn''t think. You never do." The guild master took a deep breath to calm himself before he did something he would regret. "Frank, you are one of the strongest adventurers in the guild, but strength will only get you so far. You have got to start using your head and think about more than just food and women. The new lads look up to you for guidance. I need you to show them how to be a great adventurer so they don''t die to the first stone they trip over." Frank stood up straight feeling proud to be called one of the strongest in the guild. A memory of seeing the strong warriors of his tribe march through their small village as a kid flashed through his mind. The desires of wanting to grow up strong and proud like them burning in his small chest. Would those warriors have acted as he had? "I will do better to be a guild member others can look up to and aspire to be like." He said in a strong voice. "What can I do to regain honor for the Dragon Turtle guild?" "Taking a few days off to think about how to start using your brain is a good start. I will let you know if anything else comes up. Now go." The guild master smiled at Frank. Frank thumped his fists to his chest, bowed and left the guild masters office. John and the guild master stood in silence for a few moments. "Five gold says he screws up in a week." John said. "Ten says it''s less than five days." The guild master replied. They both laughed while the guild master jumped down off his desk and waved at a couple of chairs off to the side by a bookshelf. After they sat down the guild master reached over to a small bottle filed with a dark amber liquid and poured a little into two glasses. He handed one to John and took a sip from his glass. "Tell me your thoughts on this dungeon. In all my years I haven''t heard of a dungeon with only traps in it." John told him all about their dungeon trip. He talked about the pit falls and how even though they were rather basic, with a thin cover of stone and spikes on the bottom, the placement of them seemed to suggest more intelligence and cunning than even some of the older dungeons. When he described the pressurized doors the guild master''s eyes lit up. "Those doors would have been exciting to inspect. Might have to try to make some for the guild hall in case it gets attacked again." He stared off through the window behind his desk. "It would have been great to see what that dungeon could have grown to be." He said with a deep sadness in his tone. "Shame it had to be you and that knuckle head to explore it." Chapter 12 "How long until we get to a village?" Garrett groaned. "I''m sick of seeing just trees." "I thought you would have been grateful to see anything but a cave." Blixie replied as she flew around the surrounding tree branches. "Before I got my memories back I would have been thrilled to see this forest but in my past life my family would go camping in the woods every year. It just feels like I''m back there and not in another world." "I guess that makes sense. Well, since you don''t need to sleep and you should be able to see well enough by moonlight, I would say we should run into a town in the next couple of days if we don''t stop." "I hope the town is more exciting than this hike through the woods." Garrett sighed. "Maybe we will run into bandits. That would be exciting!" Blixie chuckled. She looked over at the skeleton that Garrett was puppeting through the forest. "By the way, what happened to your foot?" "Hm?" Garrett looked at Blixie confused. He had been practicing moving the skeleton using the mana threads from his Unseen Force skill for long enough that just walking the skeleton around was an unconscious effort. He looked down at the skeleton and realized that its right foot was missing. He stared at the mana thread that was suppose to be connected to it as it fluttered behind him. "Again!? Really!?" Blixie couldn''t hold back her burst of laughter. "What does that make it, the fourth time you''ve lost a foot?" "Fifth." Garrett grumbled as they backtracked to find his missing foot. "Once Unseen Force levels up again I''m going to tie these feet on so hard that not even a giant could remove them." "The giants wouldn''t care. They would probably thank you for saving them the trouble of taking two bites to eat your leg." Blixie laughed so hard she had to lean on a tree branch for support. They found the foot bones grouped around a tree root, the mana thread no longer holding them together after going outside of Garrett''s influence. Garrett grabbed each bone and placed them back where they should go and used a mana thread to secure them all together. It took a little longer than he would have liked but he managed to only use a couple of threads. "Ugh. Having to use so many threads to keep the bones together is exhausting. Maybe I could get a suit of armor and just control that instead. Nobody needs to know that it''s hollow right?" Garrett said exasperated. They started trekking back through the forest hoping that they were headed in the direction of a town. "That''s true and would be a good plan but we would need to get a lot more money first. Full suits of armor are expensive and you don''t have nearly enough on you. Although, if we ran into some bandits that you could defeat they might have some treasure on them that we could sell." "What''s with you and wanting us to run into bandits?" "Pixies are fighters Garrett, and I''m your dungeon guide as well. It''s only natural that I would want to see you fight so I can guide you to be a better dungeon. It''s just that you are actually doing the fighting instead of having any monsters fight for you. I''ve never heard of a dungeon that could do that so I''m excited to see how well it goes." Blixie was practically vibrating with excitement. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. A soft growl caught their attention. "Be ready Garrett." Blixie warned as she prepared to dodge whatever was near them. Another growl soon followed from behind them. Garrett looked around nervously before remembering he could float anywhere within a few feet of his core that was currently residing inside a pouch nestled inside the ribcage of the skeleton. He floated over to the bush behind them which was only a couple feet away. "It''s a wolf." He said quietly, his voice emanating from his core. "Looks pretty thin. I can see its ribs." "If you see one wolf there are at least two you can''t." Blixie responded quietly. "Wolves always hunt in packs if they can." Garrett had the skeleton draw the rusty sword from its scabbard, motes of red dust drifted to the ground. Garrett positioned himself back to his spot slightly above and behind the skeleton. The wolf behind them lunged with a vicious growl, hoping to take them by surprise. Garrett wasn''t too worried about making the skeleton move like a normal human. He rotated the upper half of the skeleton around to face the wolf, it''s blade already pointed at the wolf''s throat. The blade didn''t pierce so much as tear through its skin thanks to the weight of the wolf slamming into the swords point. The wolf landed heavily onto the skeleton and pinned the sword. Another growl caught their attention as a second wolf lunged low and bit down on the left leg of the skeleton. With a quick yank the wolf pulled at the leg hoping to trip the skeleton. The leg was torn away, the mana threads holding it to the rest of the skeleton provided little resistance. The wolf stood there confused for a moment the leg, foot and all, dangling from its mouth. Garrett took that moment to pull the sword out of the dead wolf but it was stuck tight. Thinking quickly he tried to absorb the wolf''s body but nothing happened. He remembered reading stories in his old world about reincarnated dungeons and how their abilities were severely limited if non-dungeon creatures were in their influence. He quickly moved away from the still living wolf. Once we was a few feet away he absorbed the body without a problem. The wolf recovered from its momentary lapse, tossed the leg aside, and dashed after the skeleton. It leapt at the skeleton''s chest. Garrett dodged the skeleton to the side narrowly avoiding the wolf''s razor sharp fangs and claws. He once again made use of the skeletons flexibility and lack of flesh and spun the skeleton''s torso like a deadly top which added extra power to his sword swing. Thanks to pure luck the sword hit the wolf right behind the skull and shattered its neck killing it. "Well that was exciting!" Blixie shouted. "We certainly have to work on your swordsmanship and get you a better sword. That one looks like it is going to fall apart soon." "Can''t really get a new sword until we get to a town." Garrett replied. "Or run into bandits." Blixie said with a little excitement in her voice. "Again with the bandits?" "What, bandits usually have some weapons. Even if they are crappy weapons it would be an upgrade for you. Talking about loot, can you pull that first wolf out of your, what did you call it? Inventory?" Garrett looked through what was in the extra dimensional storage space he called his inventory but didn''t see the wolf. "I don''t see it. I guess I absorbed it." "Why did you do that!?" Blixie shouted. "I couldn''t get the sword out of it. Absorbing it was the only thing I could think of. Why is it a bad thing?" "It''s bad because, so far, you haven''t been able to summon even a rat. How hard do you think a wolf would be? Also we can''t harvest the fur or meat from it. So there goes that income." Blixie sighed. "We still have the other one." Garrett stated as he lifted the body up. "That''s true." Blixie said. "How much do you know about skinning, cleaning, and butchering animals?" Garrett shrugged the skeletons shoulders. "Ugh. We might as well just put it in your inventory until we get into town then. It will sell for a little less as a whole wolf but it will be more than if you mess up the hide and meat." Garrett looked down at the wolf. "I think I have a better idea." Blixie swore she could hear a smirk in his voice. "I have a bad feeling about this." Blixie sighed. Chapter 13 "Hahaha. That was a good haul lads. "A large green skinned man roared. "We''ll be eating good for a week." He smiled. Two tusks jutted up from his lower lip, one was missing the tip,which gave his smile a sinister look that was enough to make most people he met want to drop their coin purse and run. "Man, that fat merchant was too cocky." A small red skinned lizard headed man laughed as he leaned up against a tree truck. "He only had two guards with him." "Or he was cheap." Replied a black haired elf. "You know how rich folk are. The more money they have the less they are willing to part with it." "Hahaha. Too right Vander." The big orc said. "Let''s see what we got from that bit of exercise. What do you say Flint?" He turned to the lizard man. "We should be far enough away from the spot we...acquired our goods, Graul." He responded. "Put down the bag and let''s see what we have." "I''ll join you guys in a bit, nature calls." Vander said as he started walking through the brush that surrounded them. "Just go far enough away that we don''t have to smell it this time." Flint jokingly retorted. "Haha, very funny Flint." Vander sarcastically replied as he walked away. Graul quickly set down the large bag and undid the rope holding it closed. "Let''s see here." He rummaged around a bit. "We got some dried meat, some hard cheeses, nice bit of bread as well. Just need some lettuce and we can enjoy some sandwiches. Haha." "You and your love of food." Flint chuckled. "What about anything we can sell?" Graul rummaged through the bag for a bit more. "Looks like there are some fancy clothes, some silver forks and spoons, and a few gems. "Ohh, there are even a few health and mana potions in here. I don''t know what this potion is." Graul held up a small jar full of a green, viscous goo with a small gem that looked like two pyramids stuck together floating in it. "Think we could get something for this?" Graul and Flint heard a grunt come from where Vander had gone. "Sounds like you need more fiber in your diet Vander!" Flint yelled to him. Graul laughed loudly at Flints words. A few moments passed by without a comment from Vander. "Do you think he is okay?" Graul asked. "Probably just pouting since he didn''t really do anything in that last fight of ours." Flint commented."It was just a joke Vander. You need to learn to be less sensitive." Vander didn''t reply. "Ugh, elves." "I''m going to check on him." Graul said and headed off. Flint continued rooting around looking for more items to sell when he heard Graul call out. "Flint, watch out. There''s a...agh." "Graul!" Flint dropped the bag and grabbed the two daggers off his belt, crouched down,and slowly crept through the brush. After about thirty feet Flint found the bodies of his two companions. He was no field cleric but it looked like Vander had been stabbed through the heart from behind without warning. His bow still slung across his back. Graul had put up more of a fight, his large axe gripped in his hands stained with dark, almost black, blood. Graul had several gashes across his arms and legs. A long red slash across Grauls neck indicating how he had finally died. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Flint heard a soft sound from behind him. He spun around to see what had managed to sneak up on him. He saw a wolf starting back at him, its head held at an unnatural angle due to the sword clamped in its mouth. "What in Balthiores name?" He quickly jumped backwards and threw his daggers at the beast. Both daggers sunk hilt deep into the wolf''s chest. He grinned. One of those daggers certainly hit its heart. He thought. Flints grin turned into a grimace as the wolf twisted its head to look at the daggers lodged into it then turned to look it him. They both stared into the others eyes and Flint realized that the wolf''s eyes were cloudy and lifeless. He gulped and took a step back praying to Balthiore the dragon god of protection. The wolf spun its head to the side and Flint felt a thud in his chest. He looked down and saw the drool covered hilt of the sword that protruded from his chest. He looked at the wolf and he swore he saw it smirk as his vision faded to nothingness and he slumped into the dirt. *********************************************** "Great job Garrett!" Blixie shouted as she flew out of the grass and went to inspect the three bandits they had just killed. "That was a lot better than your fight against the wolves." The wolf padded over to the kobold and used its jaws to tear out the sword in its chest. "Well, it''s a lot easier when I don''t have to worry about my feet falling off." He wiggled the wolfs front paw. "Haha so true." Blixie flew around and inspected the bandits bodies and gauged how much they could get if they sold everything. "So tell me again why you were fine killing these bandits when you were so adamant about not killing anybody in your dungeon?" "Back in the dungeon I didn''t have my memories, or common sense really, so I didn''t know how dangerous this world is. We saw these bandits kill that merchant and one of his guards in cold blood and I felt outraged that they would do that. I guess becoming a dungeon core and knowing I could be killed at any time has removed some of my reservations about killing." Garrett walked around and collected every piece of usable equipment the bandits had into his inventory. "Well, I''m glad you were able to come to terms with the realities of this world." Blixie stated. "Otherwise who knows how long you would have lasted because it is only going to get more dangerous as we travel and get stronger." "I just hope I don''t have to kill often." They wandered over to where the bandits had left their bag of loot. "Since the merchant is dead I don''t think he would mind if we took his merchandise. We can try to sell it when we get to a town." The bag and its contents disappeared into Garrett''s inventory but a small thump caught his attention. He looked down where the bag had been and saw a bottle of green liquid laying there. "I thought you were going to grab everything Garrett. Why didn''t you grab the bottle?" Blixie asked as she flew around to see what he was looking at. "I put the whole bag into my inventory." Garrett replied perplexed. "I don''t know why the bottle didn''t go in." "Is your inventory skill full?" "Not that I can tell." Garrett sent out a mana thread to pick up the bottle but it slid off. He tried a couple of times to pick up the bottle but couldn''t seem to grab it. "Well?" Blixie said impatiently after watching Garretts wolf head just stare at the bottle. "I''ve been trying to grab it but my threads keep slipping off of it." Garrett had a sudden realization. "Just like when I try to grab my dungeon core." He turned to Blixie. "Hey Blixie, can you pull the cork out and dump the bottle." Blixie was curious where his thoughts were going so she obliged. She flew down to the bottle and started to pull at the cork. It was really stuck in there but after a few moments and a few grumbled words later the cork popped out and flew from her hands. She tumbled about in the air for a moment until she managed to catch her balance. Blixie flew back down to the bottle and dumped out the contents of the bottle. The green ooze inside poured out slowly like molasses. When the gem inside the ooze was free of the bottle the rest quickly rushed out of the bottle and all the ooze quickly flowed together and formed a squishy almost round blob. "It''s a slime." Blixie squealed in excitement. Chapter 14 ¡°A slime in a bottle?" Blixie was confused. "Why would someone keep a slime in a bottle?" "Man am I glad to be out of that bottle." A voice reverberated out of the slime as it stretched itself up. "Slimes can talk in this world?" Garrett asked Blixie. Blixie turned to Garrett. "No, they don''t." She flew down and poked the slime. "I wonder what happened to it." A small tentacle quickly snaked out of the slime and slapped Blixie''s hand away. "Hey! Have you heard of personal space?." The slime said. "Why are you poking me?" Blixie flew back a bit. "Oh, sorry." She apologized. "I''ve just never heard of a talking slime before. Where did you come from?" "Thank you for the apology." The slime produced two tentacles and dusted himself off. "First off, my name is Kyle. I''ve been stuck in that bottle since the wizard Feldor created me a while ago. Some bandits broke into his lab and stole a bunch of potions and other things they thought they could make some coin on, which included me. They sold me and the rest of the stuff to the merchant that these gentlemen robbed." Kyle pointed to the defeated bandits. "Now I happened to have seen some good looking food in the bag with me and I am starving since I haven''t eaten since...well, since I was created. So could I please have some of that food?" Blixie and Garrett looked at each other, then back to Kyle. "Uh, sure. I don''t see why not." Garrett replied. "I don''t need to eat and I haven''t seen Blixie eat anything since I''ve met her." "Thanks." Kyle squirmed over to the bag and using two tentacles he rummaged through the bag pulling out the meat, cheese, and bread. "I wish there was some lettuce here. That would have made a great sandwich." He mumbled. "So what kind of wolf doesn''t need to eat and travels with a what...fairy?" "I''m a pixie!" Blixie shouted angrily. "Sorry." Kyle said. "I didn''t know there were Pixies in this world." "For starters, I''m not a wolf. I''m a dungeon core and Blixie is my dungeon guide. Also, what do you mean this world?" Garrett had a suspicious feeling abut Kyle. "You probably won''t believe me but I am from another world." Kyle explained. "I died in that world and was reborn in this world by George. He says he is the god of stories and that he met me in that other world but my memories from there are fuzzy and disjointed." Kyle shrugged as of to apologize for the lackluster explanation. "Hahaha!" Garrett laughed uncontrollably. He lost concentration on his mana threads and the wolf body flopped to the ground. Blixie and Kyle just stared at the unmoving body confused. Kyle turned to Blixie. "I know you don''t believe me but you don''t have to laugh that much." Garrett''s laughted louder. "Is this normal?" "I''m not sure what is going on but Garrett is anything but normal." Blixie flew closer to Garrett. "Are you okay Garrett? What made you laugh so much?" Garrett slowly regained control over his laughter and reattached his mana threads to the wolf. "Sorry Kyle. I''m not laughing at you or your story. I just thought that you hadn''t changed even after being reborn in this world." Stolen story; please report. Kyle was stunned. "What do you mean I haven''t changed? Who are you? How do you know me?" "I met George as well after an adventurer destroyed my core awhile ago. He restored my memories from that world and told me of how I... uh, we died in the world we came from. He took our souls and placed them in special cores he made using the dice we used in the tabletop games we would play." Garrett grabbed the bag from around the wolf''s neck that held his core and flipped it upside down. His core tumbled out of the bag and landed on the grass at his feet. Kyle stared at the small, twenty side gem that seemed so familiar. Memories of laughter and frustration caused by the sound of a similar rolling gem flashed through his mind. As he continued to stare at Garrett''s core it grew brighter and larger in his mind. It seemed like Garrett''s core was drawing him in, offering the promise of a home he hadn''t known he wanted. Garrett and Blixie grew worried when Kyle stopped moving, transfixed by Garrett''s core and stayed that way for a minute. "So you think he''s okay?" Garret asked Blixie. "He is fine...probably." Blixie responded hesitantly. She flew down at poked him a few times. "Hey, Kyle." Kyle slowly shifted to look at Garrett. "Garrett?" He whispered. "I guess we didn''t make it to the con, huh?" He chuckled. "No Kyle. No we didn''t." Garrett chuckled back. ****************************************** "Hahaha...then you had us have that dance off against the band of orcs. Man that was hilarious." Kyle said as he moved through the forest with Garrett and Blixie. "Too bad I can''t dance in this world and I can''t even use the excuse of having two left feet. Haha." "These adventures of yours sound quite exciting but I don''t think any orc in this world would settle anything with dancing. The orcs of your world must be very different." Garrett and Kyle exploded into laughter. Blixie was very confused at this point. "What''s so funny?" Garrett Garrett held his stomach with the dainty hands of the elf he was currently puppeting. "We don''t actually have orcs in our world, or elves or goblins. In fact there are only humans there." "What about monsters or dungeons?" "Nope. Nothing exciting like that." Garrett responded. "How do you get leather to make armor or wool for fabric then? What about meat or is your planet full of plant eaters?" ¡°I believe leather comes from the hide of cows and other animals but it has to be processed and takes quite a while. Wool comes from sheep and is then spun into fabric. Meat comes from farm animals like cows, pigs, and chickens, and no not everyone from our world are vegetarians. Three are a lot of people that eat meat but not many know how to butcher an animal. The process is the same here I imagine, we just don''t have to fight for our lives to get a new shirt. Haha." "Your world does sound peaceful but I''m still a little confused. You said it takes a while to make leather or...what was the word you used...butcher an animal for meat, but why would it? When monsters and animals are defeated people just loot leather and meat from them with a simple touch." "Wow! That sounds amazing!" Kyle exclaimed as he shoved a wedge of cheese into himself. "This world is amazing thanks to its skills and magic but our old world wasn''t too bad since it didn''t have monsters and it did have a higher level of technology." Garrett responded. "Either way, since we are here now there really is no reason to dwell on the past. So let''s just throw ourselves into the adventure of this world." Garrett cheered. "I am going to miss having a car but as long as we aren''t the destined saviors or end up becoming the targets of some major conspiracy run by a major guild or royal family like those isekai novels you used to read this world could be really fun." Kyle laughed. "Well, I''ve already died once in this world and that didn''t happen in those books, so I don''t think we have to worry about that." Garrett laughed. Blixie flew beside them confused by the conversation. "What''s a car?" Chapter 15 ¡°I¡¯m so glad to be out of that forest!¡± Kyle exclaimed and reached two tentacles into the air. He felt a light breeze brush against the slime of his skin as he looked out over rolling hills of grass and flowers. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would take three days to get out of there." He pushed a few twigs and rocks out of his body. "I have got to figure out how to not pickup everything I roll over." He grumbled. "It would have been faster if rigor mortis hadn''t set in." Garrett said as he came up from behind Kyle. "It surprised me at first when it started getting harder to move this body but I was not ready for it to just freeze and not move for a full day." Garrett looked over the the body of the elf he was currently puppeting for any abnormalities. After finding none he started contorting the body looking for signs of residual stiffness. Blixie followed behind them. She had stopped trying to make sense of the odd words and phrases Garrett and Kyle used in their conversations through the forest. "If we keep going at the pace we have been we should arrive at a town by the end of the day. You guys remember what we planned for getting into town right?" "Yes Blixie, we remember. You only told us five times." Garrett replied. "I''m posing as a monster tamer and Kyle is my first monster. We should see if there is an adventurers guild in the town we can join and then see what quests they have." "Great job Garrett." Blixie turned to Kyle. "What about your part Kyle?" "I''m suppose to be a good little slime by following orders and not talking." Kyle form slumped as he sulked. "Ugh. Why couldn''t I have been reborn as dwarf, or an elf. Hell I would be fine as a basic human." "It is just while we are in town so people don''t kill you or steal you away to perform tests on you." "I know. I was just really excited to talk to merchants and towns folk, like in the games I used to play." Kyle suddenly perked up from a thought. "Wait, I''m a slime! I don''t know why I didn''t think of this sooner." Kyle focused on the two arm like tentacles. Ever so slowly several smaller tentacles grew from them. He strained and the tentacles shifted around to form rudimentary hands. Kyle was filled with joy. He shifted his focus to his body. Two thick, stubby tentacles emerged from the bottom of him and lifted his body up. The makeshift legs grew about six inches before his whole form collapsed into a puddle. "Um. Blixie, what just happened?" Garrett asked worriedly. "That is a great question Garrett. I wish I knew." She replied. "Is he dead?" "He shouldn''t be. Slimes are pretty hard to kill if their core is still intact." After a few seconds the puddle that was Kyle started to bubble and rise back up into his slimy, blob-like form. "So much for posing as a human." "What just happened Kyle?" Garrett asked. "I was hoping my Form Control skill would allow me to take the form of a human, but I have to focus on everything that needs to be controlled. Do you know how hard that is?" Garrett laughed and had his elf puppet do a simple dance. "Yea, I get how hard that could be." Kyle stared at Garrett. "I''ve been meaning to ask you about that. Since you are a dungeon core shouldn''t you be in a dungeon underground, surrounded by monsters you''ve created, and killing adventures that are stupid enough to challenge you?" This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "It''s a long story." Over the next several hours Garrett told Kyle his story starting from when he woke up in this world, his meeting with Blixie, his death at the hands of adventurers, and subsequent meeting with George the god of stories, all the way up through him defeating the bandits. "George was a god?" Kyle balked. "But he was such a noob at any of the games we played. For a god of stories, you think he would be better at roleplaying." "What''s a noob?" Blixie interjected. She had been quietly flying beside Garrett as he recounted his tale and added clarification when needed. "Well Blixie," Garrett started speaking in a confident teaching voice he had developed while he was still alive in his old world. He used it when he would teach games to new players. "A noob is term from our old world. It refers to someone who is just starting to learn something new and so they tend to make mistakes that are obvious to others that are more experienced." "I think I get it." Blixie said as she mused over this new word. "So, I guess you two are noobs then." She said with a smile. Kyle stopped dead in his tracks. "Who are you calling a noob?" He growled and pointed a tentacle at Blixie. "Well, you guys are new to this world. You have both made mistakes that I find quite obvious. Like your attempt at shaping yourself into a human Kyle. Thus, you two are noobs." Garrett''s elf form collapsed into a heap as he lost concentration from laughing so hard. Kyle''s tentacle wavered as he backed up and thought about it for a moment before he too started laughing. Blixie hovered in the air confused. "What''s so funny?" Once Garrett got his laughter under control he responded. "Sorry Blixie. I forgot to tell you it is kind of an insult in our world, but you are absolutely right. We are noobs to this world. I hope we can rely on you to help us learn about it." They crested a hill and saw a town huddled behind a tall wooden wall a few miles away. "Soon our life of proper adventure begins." Garrett said. ************************************************ "Halt! What business do you have in Arenthia?" Said the guard. Garrett, Kyle, and Blixie stopped and looked at him. Garrett took in his red jacket over a simple leather armor chest piece, spear in one hand, and small shield in the other. Could they get a more generic guard? Garrett thought. "Good sir, my name is Garrett and this is my pet slime...ugh...Squishy. The pixie beside me is Blixie. we are just traveling through the area and have come to rest for a few days." "Right, as long as you don''t cause trouble you should be fine. The Slick Pig just up the road is the finest inn in town. It is also the only inn in town." The guard chuckled at his own words. "Just know that you are responsible for any damages or injuries caused by your slime while you are in these walls." "Thanks for the recommendation." Blixie said with a smile. "By the way, is there a branch of the adventurers guild in this town?" "There is a small branch across from the inn. We usually don''t have any dangerous monsters around and there are no dungeons nearby to attract adventures so I don''t know if they will have any work for you." "Thanks for the information." Garrett said as the three of them left. "Why do I always get the weird ones?" The guards said once the trio was out of earshot. "Who did you get this time Jack?" Said a guard that was walking out of the gate. "I just had a pixie and an elf with a pet slime come through. Seriously what tamer would choose a slime as a pet? They are really weak." "I''ve heard of a few that take a slime as their first monster, but they usually get rid of them pretty quickly. Besides the pixie I don''t see how they were weird." "I''ve never heard of a pixie traveling with people before. Besides that, I swear that the elf''s mouth didn''t seem to move to match his words. It was like he was speaking in a different language, but I heard his words in the common tongue." "That can''t be true." The guard laughed. "There has been no record of a translation spell in the history of our world. You are probably just tired. Which is why I''m here to relieve you. Go get a drink and a good night''s sleep." "Thanks Al. You might be right." Jack turned around and started walking home for the night. "Have a good night." "You too jack." Al chuckled and slowly closed the gate as the sun finished setting. Chapter 16 The Slick Pig stood near the center of town so any adventures staying there could reach any party of the town quickly. It was a large two story building towing over the rest of the single story buildings surrounding it. A well worn sign hung out slightly into the street and depicted a pig covered in what looked like oil flying out of the arms of someone. "This looks like the inn the guard talked about." Garrett said. "So the adventurers guild should be right across the street." Garrett, Blixie, and Kyle turned to their right and saw a few shops. A shop selling weapons had a sign with two swords crossed over the words ''Quillions Quills''. Two doors to the right hung a sign sporting a shield behind a helmet with the words ''Pangolins Protection'' that advertised for an armor shop. Between them sat a shop barely wide enough for the door on its front with a stylized ''A'' above it. "Well that is the mark of the adventures guild," Blixie said as she pointed above the door to the small shop. "But I''ve never seen them use such a small building before. They must have a really peaceful life out here like the guard was saying." Kyle perked up remembering something. "That reminds me. We need to cover your mouth Garrett or have Blixie talk for our group." Garrett and Blixie turned to look at him. "Why would I need to do that?" Garrett asked. "I overheard the guard we met talk to another guard and say that the words he was hearing from you didn''t match up to how your mouth was moving." Kyle shrugged. "Which, after noticing it now, does look like I''m watching an old kung fu movie that was badly dubbed." "Well that makes sense. I don''t really have that fine of a control with my Unseen Force skill yet." Garrett quickly pulled a strip off of the bottom of his cloak and tried to tie it around the bottom of his face. His control over the fingers of the elf was not great so he ended up changing the threads from his fingers to the edges of the fabric and tying it that way. "I''m wondering how you heard the guard from way over here though." "Well you''re not the only reborn gamer in this world with cool abilities." Kyle quipped. "I happen to have an ability that allows me to leave a small puddle of myself that I can hear and see through. I''ve been leaving puddles sporadically as we traveled to get practice and I figured having an ear around the entrance would come in handy." Kyle puffed up a little. He was quite proud of his forethought. "So you have been leaving puddles everywhere? In the forest, on the road, and even by the stream we passed?" "Yup." "Ew. Bad squishy, bad. No leaving puddles everywhere." Garrett chuckled. "I thought you were house trained." Blixie stared confused for a second before laughing. "Haha. Very funny Garrett." Kyle grumbled. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Sorry Kyle. You setup that joke too well." Garrett got himself under control. "That does sound like a very useful ability though. Well, let''s go check out the adventurers guild." Garrett walked forward. "I''m so pumped for this." Kyle threw two tentacles into the air and squirmed forward. "Just remember, no talking Kyle." Blixie admonished. "I know. I know." Garrett pushed the door open and stepped inside. He was surprised by how stark the inside was. Simple white washed walls and a wooden floor greeted them. Garrett easily could have touched both walls just by spreading his arms. A small elderly women sat behind a counter that spanned the width of the room. A couple of bookshelves flanked her and a simple door stood behind. "Hello dears." A soft voice whispered through the room. "What brings you in today?" "Hello ma''am." Garrett said respectfully as he approached the counter. "We are just passing through town and are running a little low on travel funds so we were wondering if there was any work to be done." "Of course dearies. Tell me your guild rank and I will see if there is anything suitable." Blixie spoke up. "Sorry but we are not part of the adventurers guild so we don''t have a rank." "Oh my, oh my. That just won''t do. I can only give work to guild members. I''m sorry." The old woman replied with a touch of sadness in her voice. "I understand." Garrett said. "How would we go about joining the guild?" The old woman looked quizzically at the group. Everyone was taught in school that to join the guild you just have to go to any branch and prove that you can survive the rigors of the adventurers lifestyle. Blixie noticed the look from the old woman. "Please pardon my companion. I found him unconscious and injured in the woods a few weeks ago. He seems to be suffering from amnesia and really only knows the skills granted to him by the gods." The old women''s glare turned to a smile of compassion and sympathy. "I''m sorry to hear that. I had amnesia once after getting clubbed over the head while fighting some orcs." She chuckled. "I went a couple of months trying to figure out why some old man was chasing me around saying we were married. My memory came back after I took a blow to the head from fighting in the annual tournament. What a crazy year this has been." Garrett and Kyle looked at each other silently promising each other to not anger this old lady. The old lady pulled a couple sheets of paper and a quill out from under the counter and placed them in front of Garrett. "Now just fill out this waiver form and we can get started on your test." "Waiver for what?" "It is just a standard agreement saying that you won''t hold the guild responsible for any injuries or deaths resulting from any quests you take on or any tests the guild requires from you." She said with a practiced smile. Garrett filled out the sheet with his name and wrote down his class as monster tamer. "So how do I join if this is just a waiver?" As he finished signing his name on the form, a stylized ''A'' appeared, the same as on the front of the shop, and another formed on the back of his hand. "You just need to take a small test and I will evaluate whether or not you qualify to join the guild. Don''t worry about the mark on your hand either. That is just a binding spell to verify that you signed the waiver." The old woman hoped down from her stool that she was sitting on and disappeared from sight. A small section of the counter swung in. Garrett was shocked that the old woman only stood slightly taller than his waist. She then turned away, walked to the door behind the counter and opened it. "Step right this way into the testing area and we will see what you can do." Garrett, Blixie, and Kyle looked at each other and shrugged. Garrett noticed a slightly mischievous smile on her face as he and his companions proceeded through the door. Chapter 17 The old lady lead Garrett and the others through the door and down a long corridor of stairs. "So ma''am," Garrett spoke up after starting down the stairs, "I don''t think we got your name while we were upstairs." The old lady chuckled. "Oh, how rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Jenny. I was born and raised right down the street in fact. Ever since I was a little girl I always listened to the tales of the adventurers that would visit our town and I was inspired to go see the world." Jenny sighed while reminiscing of her past. "I left town as soon as I could join the adventurers guild and had a grand time. I actually met my husband when I saved him from a band of ruffians. He was such a coward back then." Kyle looked at Garrett with what Garrett could only assume was an ''oh great, grandma''s telling us her life story again'' look and shrugged back at Kyle. Garrett didn''t really mind since there was really nothing else to do besides walk down the stairs. Besides, maybe he could learn a little bit of history that could be useful sometime. "Look at me rambling on. I''m sorry. You probably don''t want to hear my life''s story." Blixie rolled her eyes. "Well after I retired awhile back my husband and I returned here to live a nice simple life and now I run the adventures guild here in Arenthia while he is one of the tailors in town." "We don''t mind." Garrett said. "You probably have some really good stories from your time adventuring. Did you ever get a nickname when you adventured?" Blixie and Kyle sighed. Here we go again, they both thought. Jenny laughed. "I haven''t thought of those in years, but yes I had a few. Near the end they started calling me Grandma Jenny, but most people would remember me as Morana. It was given to me by a group I rescued that was visiting our country and it just kinda stuck for some reason." She waved her hand dismissively. "I never really minded it and I didn''t use it myself but it makes you wonder how nicknames gain their power." Blixie''s eyes widened until they took up about half her face. "You are Morana? Ogress of the battlefield? Destroyer of dragons?" "Hahaha. Yes my dear. Those are some of the names I picked up as well." Jenny laughed. "Not sure when I destroyed a dragon though." As they arrived at the bottom of the stairs Garrett and Kyle looked back at Blixie in hopes that she would explain a bit more. "I have all your cards." Blixie said as she pulled a small book out of nowhere. She quickly flipped through several pages before stopping and turning the book around. The pages showed several small rectangular cards depicting a very large, red-headed women in fights against different enemies. One showed her fighting a pair of orcs that came up to her waist. Another was against a troll that stood to her shoulders, hands locked in a contest of strength. There were several other cards with different monsters or animals, but the common theme was an axe that looked like it was made for someone even larger grasped in the giant woman''s hands or strapped to her back, and she was always bigger than her opponent. Garrett and Kyle looked back down at the old lady then to each other. "Must be like the trading cards from our world." Garrett whispered. "They probably wanted to show her power compared to the enemies she fought." "Well then." Jenny said as she moved to the center of the room. "Welcome to the training room." The others followed her into the large circular room. There were various racks of weapons lining the walls as well as targets made of straw and wood. "Every adventurers guild has one so members can practice their skills without endangering civilians. It''s also where we test people for entry into the guild." Jenny lifted her hand to the side and a slight hum started. A large axe that rested against the wall started to vibrate then suddenly flew into Jenny''s outstretched hand, the large double blade head thumped into the ground. "Let''s see what you got." She said with a smile as she leaned on the axe like it was a walking stick. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Blixie sighed when she noticed that Garrett and Kyle just stared at Jenny with confusion. "She wants to see if you will survive on the quests the guild gives you, so she needs to know how well you fight. So, you are going to have to fight her." "Are you serious?" Garrett exclaimed. "I get that she was a famous adventurer back in the day, but I can''t fight an old lady. I don''t want to hurt her." Blixie burst out laughing while Jenny chuckled. "If you could hurt her Garrett, we wouldn''t be in the situation we are." Blixie said. Jenny smiled. "It''s so nice to see youngsters with morals these days. Let''s do this." She walked over to a box full of clothes and pulled out a plain white shirt and two pairs of gloves made of a fine red cloth. She tossed a pair of gloves to Garrett and a pair to Kyle, then put on the white shirt that fit her more like a dress as she returned to the center of the room and grabbed the axe handle. "Those gloves are enchanted to leave a mark wherever they touch on this shirt. So, if you can leave a mark you will pass. How does that sound?" Garrett put on the gloves. "That sounds better. What do you think Kyle?" He looked over at Kyle and saw him sprout two slimy tentacles and slip them into the gloves. "Hey, you look good with hands." He chuckled. He made a show of stretching a little bit then walked over to the middle of the room and stood about ten feet from Jenny. "I think I''m ready." He said but saw a look of confusion on her face. "Did I do something wrong?" "No," Jenny replied. "It''s just that the monster tamers I have seen usually just let their monster fight and they support it with enhancement spells and maybe throw in an attack spell or two as a distraction. So, you coming to challenge me by yourself surprised me." "Well, it''s not like we are actually fighting and both of us going against you just seems a little unfair." Jenny just smiled. "Whenever you''re ready." She said. Garrett took a few lunging steps and reached out to touch Jenny''s shoulder, but she just turned her body and let his hand sail past her. He quickly reached out with his trailing hand but met only air as Jenny bent forward and slid under his arm. Garrett reached out again and again swiping at her from different angles. He tried throwing in feints and even used his mana threads to slide the gloves up his hands a little to increase his reach. He tried to grab the shirt with a couple of spare mana threads, but they slipped off just the same as when he tried to pick up his core or the bottle that had contained Kyle. No matter what he tried she would turn or duck or take a single step to be just out of reach. He soon realized that the axe she held onto hadn''t even moved. and in frustration and anger he swung his foot out in an attempt to trip her. Jenny lifted her feet in a small hop while Garrett''s leg slid beneath her, kicking up a bit of dust and sand. Garrett spun around with the momentum of his kick and was shocked to see Jenny floating in the air, supported only by one skinny arm holding onto the axe handle. "That''s better dear. You have to use everything you have available when you fight." Jenny said in a calm voice, as if teaching a young child, while she held herself effortlessly in the air. "But unless you get your slime to fight me as well then you are only using half your tools." She continued as she slowly lowered her legs to the ground. Suddenly she leaped forward and to the side as a gloved tentacle whizzed through where she had been and slapped into Garrett''s chest. She used the axe handle as leverage to swing herself around and kicked Kyle who had been trying to sneak up on her. Kyle rolled across the room and slapped wetly into the wall. "Much better. You almost got me there. You used yourself as a distraction to let your slime get in close. It''s quite clever in this situation. Maybe I underestimated you and I should get a bit serious now." Garrett realized that he had been eye level with Jenny since she had kicked Kyle into the wall. Was this her normal height when she wasn''t hunched over. He thought but quickly realized she was actually growing when he started having to look up to her. "I guess those cards were more literal than we thought." He mumbled to himself as Blixie laughed mischievously of to the side. Chapter 18 Garrett stared at Jenny as she now stood about two feet taller than him. "Wouldn''t you being bigger make this easier for us?" He asked. Jenny chuckled. "It is not just my size that has increased deary." She said as she seemed to disappear when two gloved tentacles whipped through the air. She reappeared a few feet to the side. "So close dear but you''ll have to be faster than that to catch me." Blixie called out to Garrett. "Come on Garrett, you can do this. Use what the good goddess gave ya." "I guess we need to try harder." Garrett said. "Go get her Squishy." He called out. Jenny smiled. "That''s a rather cute name for your slime." "Okay. So, any ideas on how you are going to pass this test?" Garrett and Blixie watched as Kyle launched gloved tentacle after tentacle at Jenny as she gracefully danced around the room despite her age and new size. "A couple." Garrett maneuvered himself to the side of Jenny opposite Kyle reaching out a hand anytime Jenny got near. Jenny managed to avoid most of the hands and tentacles that reached out at her, the rest she blocked with the handle of her axe. Jenny laughed loudly, as she fully enjoyed the game. After several minutes Blixie noticed Kyle''s swings getting slower and slower as he slowly ran out of energy. "Whatever you have planned you better do it soon. Ky-ugh, Squishy looks to be running out of steam." She yelled. "Don''t worry." Garrett yelled back. "We almost have her." Jenny howled with laughter. "Sorry dears but I could do this all day, but it looks like you boys are running on empty." She quipped. Garrett nodded to Kyle as he threw himself at Jenny with all the force he could muster while Kyle launched both gloved tentacles from Jenny''s opposite side. "A pincer attack. Great idea." Jenny said as she jumped and flipped over Garrett and watched as he smacked into Kyle''s tentacles. "Just a little too slow though." Jenny landed lightly and gave a yelp as the ground gave out beneath her. Hey feet sank into what should have been solid earth but was now very loose sand. Before she knew it the sand was up to her waist and a loose glove flopped into her chest leaving a red splotch a moment later. She looked up with surprise and a bit of pride to see Garrett tangled up in Kyles tentacles his naked hand outstretched toward her. She burst out in laughter her eyes welling with tears. "My oh my, I wasn''t expecting a trap from you. Well done." She said. She placed her hands to her sides and tried to push herself out, but they sank in the same loose sand. "I see why you didn''t charge earlier. It probably took a while to make this trap and get me into position." Garrett and Kyle tried to untangle themselves but were having troubles. "Actually, I wasn''t sure where you were going to go so I had to make quite a big pit." Garrett responded. "I made it about twenty feet wide just to be sure. How did you get your tentacles in knots." He grunted. Suddenly Kyle stopped moving as he lost cohesion and collapsed into a puddle. Garrett stood up and shook off the liquid remnants of Kyle''s slime as the puddle solidified back into a slime. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "I didn''t expect you to have an earth element affinity." She said as Garrett approached her. "Why not?" Garrett asked as he stopped a few feet shy of Jenny. He started walking around her and used his Earth Shape ability to resolidify the ground. "Usually, monster tamers pick a creature that is the same as their elemental affinity or one that has good synergy. Slimes start out with the water affinity which has very little synergy with earth." She explained as she watched Garrett circle her. "I resolidified the ground around you, but I don''t think I can help pull you out." "It''s fine." Jenny placed her hands on either side of her and lifted herself up a little while her legs shrank to their original size. Soon her legs were out of the sand, and she walked over to the side of the room on her hands. While Garrett fixed the rest of the sandy floor Jenny shrank the rest of her body down. "Since you passed the test we can go back upstairs and get you registered as an adventures guild member." The four of them climbed back up the stairs. "So, what elemental affinity do you have?" Garrett asked. "I can''t think of what would give you a skill to grow your size." Jenny chuckled. "It is a very rare skill indeed. As far as I know I''m the only one in the world that has it. As for my elemental affinity it is plant. A combination of earth, water, and light elements." They reached the top of the stairs and Garrett, Kyle, and Blixie went to the far side of the counter by the exit while Jenny reached into a drawer under the counter. She pulled out a small metal card and placed it on the counter. "This is your guild card." She pulled out a necklace from beneath her shirt and tapped it on the card which started to glow a soft white. "Go ahead and infuse your mana into the card." Garrett placed his hand on the card and pushed his mana into the small metal card. Slowly characters etched themselves into the metal. "The card will have your name, any titles you may receive from the guild, as well as your guild rank. We can also record any gold you leave with us that you can retrieve at other guild branches around the realm." Jenny explained. "Your guild rank starts at ''F'' and goes up through ''A'' by doing quests and proving yourself a capable warrior. There are higher ranks but those are achieved through special circumstances." "Why are the guild ranks ''A'' through ''F''? I''ve always wondered." "Because it''s sounds better than one, two, three?" She laughed. "Honestly I don''t know, and I don''t think anyone really does. The guild and its ranking system have been around longer than even an elf''s memory. Anyway, if you are ready for your first quest, I have one to pick medicinal herbs in the nearby woods or there is a package that needs delivering to the next town over. Which would you like?" "I think we will deliver the package. I''m a little tired of running around in the forest." Garrett replied. "I understand. The forest can be a beautiful place, but it can get a bit monotonous." Jenny went to one of the bookshelves behind her, grabbed a small box, and brought it to the counter. It was a simple wooden box about a foot long on each side with some paper strips sealing the lid shut. "Here is the package. It needs to be delivered to the adventurer''s guild in the town of Lakefall to the east. It should only take a day or two to get there on foot." She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a couple of silver coins and placed them by the box. "Since it is so late here is a little something to get you a room and a decent meal at the inn across the way." "That''s more than generous of you but you don''t have to pay for our room." Blixie said. "We can take care of it. "Nonsense. You are the first new recruits we have had here in a few years that have given me such fun for the test. Just think of it as a bonus." "We appreciate your generosity ma''am." Garrett said as he picked up the coins and placed them and his new guild card into the pouch around his neck. He picked up the box, said goodbye, and headed out into the night with Blixie and Kyle in tow. Jenny smiled warmly as she watched the group leave. Such nice kids. I really hope they survive to make something of themselves. She thought to herself before she went and locked up the building and headed home. Chapter 19 Garrett, Kyle, and Blixie walked into the inn across from the adventurer''s guild. It was rather plain compared to what Garrett and Kyle were expecting from their memories of seeing fantasy inns from movies and games in their past lives. The room they stood in was about fifty feet square. Round wooden tables surrounded by simple chairs dotted to room. They were surprised to not see a bar top with stools or any barrels of ale around. The other thing they were expecting were people to be eating and carousing at this hour, but they were the only ones there. A door to their left opened and a small head popped out. Curly red hair framed the small round face and two green eyes of a young girl. A smattering of freckles splashed across her face. The head disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Mama, we got guests." was heard loudly yelled from behind the door. The trio in the room just looked at each other and shrugged. "You don''t have to yell Alice. I''m right here and it is not good for guests to hear yelling from their hosts." The door swung open as a women walked through that was the spitting image of the girl from before if she was about twenty years older. She was dressed in a light blue dress with a white apron tied around her waist. "Sorry you had to hear that. You try to teach kids to have manners and I swear they try their hardest to do the opposite." She chuckled lightly while approaching the group. "Welcome to the Slick Pig. My name is Tracy and you have already met my daughter Alice. How can we help you today?" Blixie quickly spoke up. "My name is Blixie. This is Garrett and his pet slime Squishy. We would like a room please, if any are available. Also, a meal as well." A small gasp and a squeal were heard as the small head of Alice could be seen poking out around Tracy''s skirt, her eyes wide in amazement as her gaze quickly switched between Blixie and Kyle. Tracy chuckled. "Please excuse my daughter. It is rare we see such a distinguished guests such as a pixie and a monster tamer. We do indeed have rooms available, and I can get a meal ready for you in about twenty minutes or so. would you like to eat at one of the tables or up in your room?" "We will eat in our room please." Blixie responded. "Very good." Tracy gave a slight bow. "It will be two silver for the room and three meals." Garret fished out the silver the old lady had given them and handed them over. Tracy produced a key from the pocket of her apron and handed it to Garrett. Your room is up the stairs to the right, First door on the left. dinner will be brough up shortly." Tracy then shuffled her daughter back through the door. Garrett, Kyle, and Blixie went up the stairs that were across the room from the front door and went to the room they had rented for the night. The room contained a single bed nestled against the far wall next to a window. A small table and chair were along the wall to their left. "Rather simple but it will work for tonight." Blixie commented as she flew over and landed on the bed. Garrett closed the door after everyone was inside. "Why do we even need to rent a room?" Kyle asked. "None of us need to eat, Garrett and I don''t sleep, and you can just use Garret''s hood as a hammock like when we went through the forest." "True." Blixie responded. "But, while the link between Garrett and I can nourish me, I do enjoy eating when I can. Besides, we are supposed to be posing as adventurers. Which means that we would need to sleep before heading out. Especially since we established with that old lady at the guild that we had been traveling for a few weeks through the woods." "That makes sense I guess." Kyle said quietly. "I guess we also need to talk about what we want to do after this. We haven''t talked about that since we meet the other day." "That''s true." Garrett said. "This world is not like the games we used to play Kyle. There is no clear-cut objective or goal for us. George told me that exploring the unknown with friends was half the fun of the old tabletops we played. So, I think the first thing we need to do is find our friends that were reincarnated into this world. Then we can figure out what to do after that." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "That''s a great idea." Blixie chimed in. "But the world is huge. How are you supposed to find all your friends if they got reincarnated into this world? Did George give you any hints? Can you sense each other?" "No, and no." responded Garrett. "But if I was him, I would try to get us all together sooner rather than later, because who wants to go halfway through a campaign before being introduced to all the players? So, we will just keep going and we should find everyone fairly quickly I believe." A soft knock at the door interrupted them. Garrett went over and opened the door to reveal Alice standing there holding a tray with three plates loaded up with a few thin slices of meat, mashed potatoes, and some roasted veggies. One plate was about half the size of the others. "Here are your dinners." Alice said in a soft, almost whisper like, voice, her eyes locked on the tray of food as she held it out. "Is everything alright?" Garrett asked concerned as he retrieved the tray from her and placed it on the table by the door. "Sorry you had to hear me yelling earlier." Alice quietly responded back. "Mama is teaching me to help run the inn so I can take over some day, or so she says, but I forget things sometimes." Garrett laughed loudly at this. "You don''t have to worry Alice." He said as he squatted down to be eye level with her. "It can take quite a while to learn everything, and longer still to remember when to use it. It took me quite a bit of time to become the adventurer I am now, and I still have a lot to learn. So don''t be sad that you made a mistake. Just keep on trying and you''re bound to succeed." Alice looked up at Garrett with a big smile. "Thanks mister Garrett. I''ll work real hard to be better in the future." Alice quickly turned around and ran back through the hall and down the stairs. "Alice, how many times do I need to tell you, don''t run around the inn." Tracy loudly admonished. "Sorry mama." Alice yelled back. "And no yelling." Garrett closed the door and chuckled. He grabbed the tray of food, turned around, and walked back to the bed. He placed the tray on the bed, grabbed a plate for himself and sat down on the floor. "So, what do we want to do for the rest of the night?" he asked and looked at the others. "What was that?" Blixie asked flabbergasted. "What was what?" Garrett responded. "I''ve never heard of a dungeon core being so caring for a person before." "Did you forget that George gave me my memories of being human back? Besides, she reminded me of my younger sister back when she was that age." Garrett responded. "I remember, it just slipped my mind. You are the first dungeon I have heard about that got their memories back after all." "Oh yeah." Kyle said as he placed a tentacle on a plate and slowly absorbed the food on it into his body. "She was so adorable back then. Whatever happened to her. I haven''t heard you talk about her since high school." "Well, you know how my parents were." Garrett sighed. "They wanted us to do our best in whatever we tried, and my sister felt a lot of pressure from that. So, when she would make mistakes and have setbacks it would hit her really hard. During high school she started hanging out with the wrong crowd and when she didn''t get into the colleges she wanted to after graduation she really fell hard. She stopped talking to the family except for holidays sometimes and last I heard she was living in New York but that is about it." "That''s rough to hear man." Kyle responded. "Sorry." "Thanks, but It''s her life to lead. I''m just glad that I found a great group of friends that were supportive when I was younger. I just wish I could have told my sister what I told Alice back when she was that age. Maybe it would have helped." Garrett and Kyle sat in silence for a while as they remembered things of their past lives that they missed. Blixie flew down to her small plate and ate in silence. She understood that they needed some time for reflection. Garrett slowly absorbed the items on his plate and broke them down to learn their mana patterns. Eventually everyone broke off and started doing their own thing. Blixie fell asleep in the bed, Kyle practiced his Form Control skill and Garrett practiced his Air Shaping skill. Garrett hadn''t found a use for it besides keeping the air in his old dungeon fresh, but as a self-proclaimed gamer he didn''t feel right not leveling up a skill if he had it. Besides, how cool would it be if he could summon tornados or use the skill to fly, he thought to himself. He wouldn''t know without practice. Chapter 20 Blixie woke up slowly. "Nothing like sleeping in an actual bed." She yawned out as she stretched. Her face contorted in disgust. "Ugh, what is that smell? It''s like something died in here." She quickly flew to the window and threw it open. Garrett and Kyle looked at her puzzled. "What smell?" They said together. Blixie looked back at them. "Must be nice not being able to smell." she groaned while she flopped down on the window frame. Her head jerked up as a realization hit her. "Oh crap." she flew over to Garrett and sniffed him. "Ugh. It''s you. That body has started to decay and smells horrible. There goes our adventurer cover." She sighed. "Can''t we just say he hasn''t been able to bathe in a long time because he was on the road?" Kyle suggested. "Unfortunately not." Blixie replied. "There is a big difference between the sour smell of body odor and the sickly-sweet scent of a rotting corpse." "I think I have an idea that might work for now." Garrett said. A light breeze started to swirl around him, his clothes swaying lightly, and the stench of decay that permeated the room was pushed out of the open window. "How''s that?" Blixie sniffed the air and gave a sigh of relief. "Much better. You''ve been practicing that Air Shaping skill, haven''t you?" "I was practicing it all night. It''s a lot easier to control now but I can still only get a light breeze out of it. No summoning tornadoes yet." He chuckled. "But it might still be a good idea to try to find something new to replace this body." "Let''s go check out the weapon and armor shop that was by the guild before we leave. if we sell off the equipment from those bandits, we might be able to afford something better than that rusty sword you still have." "But I still have the couple of daggers and that axe from them that I can use." "While that may be, it would look odd for you to use an axe that is made for someone a lot bigger and stronger than the body you are using now, unless you want to take after grandma Jenny, and the daggers require more dexterity and precision that you just can''t do right now." Blixie lectured. "With your capabilities right now, it makes more sense to use a sword and maybe a shield, or you could lean into more of the magic wielding side of what a monster tamer is supposed to use by getting a magic staff." "But I don''t have any spells I can cast." Garrett replied. "I only have the Earth Shaping and Air Shaping skills that I can use." "So?" Kyle interjected. Garrett looked over at him curiously. "Really Garrett!?" Kyle was flabbergasted. "For being such a good DM in your past life I''m surprised you haven''t realized the opportunity your skills give you. It looks like Blixie thought of some though." "Then please enlighten me, oh great one." Garrett said sarcastically. "Just create some rock spears or something around you using Earth Shaping then fling them at enemies using your Unseen Force skill. Just make sure to do some fancy hand gestures or something." Kyle said. "Or you can do like what you did with the test against grandma Jenny and set traps for Kyle to lead enemies into." Blixie remarked. "I can''t believe I didn''t think of that." Garrett said. "You guys are geniuses." Blixie and Kyle smirked, as much as a slime can smirk at least. "Now let''s go shopping." Yelled Kyle. "Why are so excited to go shopping? Could you even use the equipment being just a ball of goo?" Blixie asked. "Don''t mock a man''s love of awesome weapons and armor." Kyle retorted. "I had an extensive collection of reproduced medieval weapons and armors back in our world." He said with pride. "How do you reproduce a weapon?" Blixie asked. "Is that like fixing them? Were you a blacksmith in your old life?" Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Garrett laughed. "Hardly, He just loved to buy them, besides they weren''t actually made for combat." "Not all of them were decorations, there were a few that could have survived combat." Kyle shot back. Blixie stared at them confused. "Why would you buy a weapon that you couldn''t use in actually combat. Seems like a waste of gold to me." "That''s a fair assessment coming from someone in this world where they are actually necessary, but you have to remember, in our world we have a lot less fighting and no monsters. Swords and spears are just not made any more except as decorations. Same with armor and shields." Garrett explained. "I see. So, they are like trophies or reminders of the past for your world." Blixie mused. "I''m surprised that you are as decent with the sword as you are then if no one in your world actually uses them." "Garrett just watched a lot of movies whereas I actually practiced with those ''decorations'' as you called them." Kyle said. "I can''t wait to see what they have." "I don''t think you should use a weapon, Kyle." Blixie said. "A slime swinging a sword would be unheard of in our world." Kyle seemed to melt at hearing that. Blixie felt bad for him. "Maybe you could still practice in secret, huh?" Garrett said trying to cheer up his friend. Kyle seemed to perk up at the idea. "Anyway, let''s worry about that later." Garrett said trying to lighten the mood. They all got up, left the room, and headed downstairs. When they reached the main room, they saw Tracy sweeping the floor. Her daughter Alice was helping by wiping the tables clean. Tracy looked up at them. "Finally awake I see." She said in a light joking tone. "Probably for the best. You missed the breakfast rush. Do you all want some breakfast?" She asked. "No thank you. We have got to get going on our quest." Garrett replied. "Thanks for the rooms. They were very comfortable." "You''re very welcome." Tracy said with a smile. "We look forward to your stay next time you are in town then." "Bye, bye." Alice said as she waved to them. Garrett, Blixie, and Kyle waved back as they headed out of the inn and across the way to the weapons shop. The warmth of the sun enveloped the three adventurers as they stepped out of the inn. Few people wandered around the street outside the inn. They headed straight for the weapons shop and entered. "Welcome to Quillions Quills." Said a friendly man behind a counter opposite the door. "My name is Dave. How may I help you?" The three took a quick look around the store. Axes and swords of various sizes lined the walls behind the counter and daggers, bows, and even a few staffs hung from racks and displays around the room that seemed smaller than the outside would suggest. A rather large porcupine was seen sleeping in one of the corners of the room. Garrett approached the counter pulling the large axe out from behind him and set it on the counter followed by the two daggers. "We were looking into selling off these items to get some weapons we could actually use." Dave was taller than Garrett''s body puppet by a few inches but looked like he only weighed about a hundred pounds soaking wet. "My, my. These are in rather rough shape aren''t they." He said as he inspected the weapons. "If this is the state of the weapons, I would hate to see the how the ruffians you got them off of look. But with a bit of love and care I''m sure they will find new homes soon enough. I can offer you about fifty gold for everything." Garrett glanced at Blixie for advice. She nodded her head slightly. "That''s fine," Garrett responded to Dave. "But how did you know they belonged to bandits?" Dave pulled out some gold coins from under the counter and placed them in front of Garrett. "When you have been working with weapons as long as I have you learn to tell a lot about someone from how they take care of their gear." Garrett was impressed. "It also helps to have a skill or two that can tell me the history of the weapon." Dave chuckled. Garrett was shocked. "There are skills like that?" "Of course there are. I would ask if you have been living in a cave your whole life, but you don''t look much like a dwarf to me." Dave laughed at his own joke. Blixie turned to Dave. "Sorry, my companion is suffering from amnesia." Dave looked at Garrett with worry. "Oh dear. I''m so sorry about that. My friend had amnesia once. She thought she was a cow and would just stand in the field all day chewing on grass." "Is she okay?" Garrett asked. "Oh, she''s fine. Turns out she was a cow that someone had turned into a human a few years before. I miss old Bess. She is an adventurer in the capital now. Pretty strong one at that. Any who, what kind of weapon were you looking into getting." "I was wanting to look at a staff that could help boost my magic." "Ah, that makes sense. Looks like you are a monster tamer. What element do you use?" "I use earth magic." "I do have a basic earth staff that would boost earth skills by about ten percent." Dave walked over to a rack and pulled out a wooden staff about five feet tall. "Here we go." It was warm brown in color with a few shoots of what appeared to be new growth on it. A rough chunk of some kind of grey stone Garrett couldn''t identify was tied on to the top that looked like a mix between a spear and a hammer. "It can even be used to smack someone if they get too close." Garrett, Blixie, and Dave jumped in surprise as a loud crash echoed out through the store. They turned to see Kyle by a pile of fallen weapons, a mace handle held in his tentacle with the head lying on the floor. "Bad Squishy." Garrett yeld out at him. "Sorry about him. He is rather curious." "Don''t worry about it." Dave replied as he pointed to the large porcupine in the corner that was still asleep. "Quillion is known to play fetch with some of the merchandise." Chapter 21 Garrett, Blixie, and Kyle walked out of Quillions Quills about fifteen minutes later after helping Dave clean up the mess of weapons caused by Kyle. Thirty-five gold had joined the few coins in Garretts pouch when they left. "Now that we have some starting weapons, I think we need to get some starting armor as well." Garrett said happily as the group walked over to the armor shop a couple of doors down. "I still think you got overcharged for your stuff Garrett." Kyle grumbled quietly. "He actually got a good deal Kyle." Blixie stated. "If anything, he actually gave Garrett a discount on the staff and dagger he bought. Maybe he had a crush on you." She teased. "Dave did help us learn a little bit about more about the cost we can expect to pay for things out in the world at least." Garrett said trying to redirect the conversation. "And we still have some gold to spend for some armor. Hopefully I can get something other than just a heavy robe." Garrett chuckled as he opened the door to the armor shop. "Welcome to Pangolins Protections." Said a deep gruff voice. "If it''s armor ya be needin'' then ye''ve come to the right spot." The shop looked to be identical to the weapons shop in its construction. Mannequins displayed sets of light leather armor that covered just the chest, shoulders and shins. Shirts made of interlocking metal rings with a metal helmet sat neatly on tables. In the corner was displayed a small set of full plate armor that covered a mannequin so completely that no wood could be seen. Shields made of wood and metal lined the walls ranging in size shape from a round six-inch buckler to a tower shield that stood six feet tall and looked like just a slab of metal that Garrett estimated was a few hundred pounds. Garrett looked around but didn''t see the source of the voice he just heard. "I would like to buy a new set of armor." He said as he continued to look for the voice. "Something a bit better than just the robes I have on." "Then ye''ve come to the right place." said the voice as the suite of full plate armor in the corner ambled over to them. It took off the helmet and placed it on the counter. "Name''s Perry." he reached out to shake Garretts hand. "I''m Garrett." Garrett bent down slightly and shook Perrys hand while he looked him over. Perry was pretty short, only coming up to his waist, but he had a stout build. His light brown skin covered a childlike face and downward pointing, almost rodent like nose. Where his hair would be were chitinous plates that started small near his forehead and grew larger as they swept back and down his back. He pointed to Blixie. "This is Blixie and my pet Squishy." Kyle inwardly cursed at the nickname they had given him. "Let''s get a proper look at ye now. I see ya have a staff, or hammer, thing so I''m guessing spellcaster or martial artist of some sort." Perry looked over at Kyle. "I have na seen a slime for quite a while, especially as a pet. So, I''m guessing monster tamer. It ain''t as popular as it was in the past. These kids now a days are all about personal glory and thinkin that big extravagant weapons and flashy spells are what are most impressive. No sense a teamwork or subtlety." Perry paced quickly back and forth while he thought out loud. Garrett, Blixie, and Kyle shared a quick look between them. Kyle shrugged in a most blob like fashion before he scooted away to look around. Perry stopped pacing and turned to look at Garrett. "I think a basic set a leather would do just fine. Not as much protection as metal mind ya, but it is lighter and easier to move in. Leather is also quite a bit easier ta maintain while out on the roads. Plus, it''s a lot cheaper for those that are just starting out as adventurers." "That sounds good." Garrett replied. "Wait, how did you know I was a new adventurer?" Perry chuckled. "Grandma Jenny just loves her gossip. Now for a new set of leather armor it''s going ta cost ya twenty-five gold. Let me run in the back and see what I''ve got in your size." He quickly disappeared through a door behind the counter. "Did you find anything interesting?" Garrett asked Kyle. "I''m more into weapons than armor." Kyle replied. "but it is still fun to look at since back in our world most people would be making this stuff out of cardboard and foam." Garrett went and looked at the shields lining the walls when he heard Kyle call out to him. "What is it, Kyle?" He asked as he walked over and saw Kyle poking the back of a large kite-shaped shield hidden behind a mannequin. "I''m not sure but I can''t seem to grab this shield. It''s like my tentacle just slips off it." Kyle said with frustration. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Alright! Here we go." Perry said as he loudly opened the door and the group turned to look at him. "One set a leather armor. Chest piece, pauldrons, and greaves." He placed the pieces on the counter and looked at the group, a look of worry on his face. "I would na touch that if I were you. That''s a cursed shield it is." "Cursed?" Garret asked as the group took a step back. "Aye, the few adventurers that have bought that shield brought it back after only a couple a days. Said it did na block a thing. Almost like it moved itself just enough ta not get hit." he said with a grunt. "If it were just one or two I would think they were just not cut out to be front liners but after five I started thinking maybe it was cursed. I even had an enchanter come in ta see what was going on but all they could tell me was tha it was magical but not what kind of enchantment was on it. So, there it sits." "Why haven''t you just thrown it away or tried to have it destroyed?" Garrett asked. "I have thought about it, but for some reason I just can na bring maself to do it." He sighed. "Might be part of the curse tha it wants to be sold to adventurers to get them killed. So, I do me best ta not let others buy it. Shame really, the craftsmanship on it is spectacular and I feel awful that others won''t get ta see its beauty." "Would there be any harm in us just looking at it then? Like you said, it would be a waste if nobody got to look at it." Garrett commented. Perry thought about it for bit. "I guess you''re right. No harm in at least looking. Maybe I could hang it up high with a sign saying it is na for sale so others can at least admire it. Maybe it will bring in some customers at least." The group examined the large shield. A large demon looking face covered the entirety of it. The two green pentagonal gems used for the eyes expressed such sadness and loneliness it seemed odd to not see a tear running down the otherwise fierce face. "Wow! You were right. That is an amazing looking shield, Perry." Garrett said. "Did you make it?" "Na. Some adventurer brought it in bout a year back sayin he found it in some ruins, but he was a shadow flitter so didn''t have a use for it and sold it ta me." "What''s a shadow flitter?" "Ah, sorry bout that. Some habits are hard to break. It''s a term some use to describe those that stick to the shadows all sneaky like." Perry responded. "Thiefs, scouts, spies, rangers and them sorts." "I see. Too bad I can''t buy the shield from you. It really is quite beautiful." Garrett said reluctantly and walked to the counter to look over the armor Perry brought out. Perry went over and hoisted the shield with a grunt and carried it back behind the counter. He dropped it roughly to the ground with a loud thud and turned to Garrett. "Now here is a basic set of leathers fer ya. Nothing special but it will keep ya alive a bit longer than not. Now, anything for you miss Blixie?" "Now that you mention it, I had my eyes on this cute pair of bracers." Blixie pointed to a nearby table. Garret was confused since he didn''t remember seeing anything small enough to actually fit Blixie anywhere in the store. "Ah, good eye." Perry quickly walked over and brought them to the counter. Blixie landed on the counter to further inspect them. They were a deep brown with a vine pattern embossed along their length. Garrett didn''t know why she wanted them since they were taller than her and she could have easily slept inside of just one of them. "Great, I will take them." Blixie smiled at Perry. "How much?" "Seein as I don''t often get pixies in my shop, and Gilvana did ask me to help out the next one I see, I reckon you can just have them. So, my debt will be clear." "You meet Gilvana?" Blixie squealed. "What was she like? I''ve always wanted to meet her. Did she have her mace? Was she smiting her foes with thunder? Was she..." "Hang on there little miss. So many questions. I meet her when I was a lad a long time ago. I thought I was tougher than I was, so I tried takin on an orc hunting camp. I would have been dead if Gilvana had na seen me as she flew past and saved me. After that she gave me some pointers and flew off asking me ta pass on what I owed her." "Thanks Perry. I''ll treasure these then." Blixie placed her hands on the bracers and a faint glow surrounded them. They quickly shrank down to her size and she strapped them to her arms. After a few quick action hero poses she turned to Garrett. "How do they look?" "Umm, Good?" Garrett replied. "But how did they shrink? Are they enchanted to fit the wearer?" "No silly." Blixie scoffed. "All pixies have an ability to shrink non-living things down to a size to fit them. How else do you think we get such good gear? Pixies are fighters and trainers, not craftsmen." "Oh, alright." Garrett turned to Perry and handed him the twenty-five gold. "I''ll just take the armor then." He scooped up the leather armor. "Thanks for the help, Perry, and I hope the shield brings in some more business for you." He turned and followed Kyle and Blixie to the door. "Well, if the shield is going ta help me get customers it''ll have ta hang from me walls, not yer back Garrett." Perry yelled at him as he rounded the counter after him. Garrett stopped and looked back. Sure enough the shield was strapped to his back. "How did it get there?" He said. "That''s what I would like to know." Perry responded. "I treat ya fair and kindly and ya try ta steal from me, and not even that well I might add." "I promise I wasn''t stealing from you. The shield was behind the counter out of reach, so how could I grab it and put it on without you noticing?" Garrett reached back to remove the shield but it wouldn''t budge. "And why won''t it come off?" "I told ya it was cursed didn''t I?" Perry huffed. Perry grabbed the shield and pulled but only succeeded in dragging Garrett a couple of feet backwards. "I guess you''re stuck with the shield now, but I''m not responsible if''n it gets you killed." Perry huffed back to stand behind the counter. "Good luck out there lad." "Thanks Perry. I appreciate it." Garrett, Kyle, and Blixie turned and left Pangolins Protections. "I hope Ole Jenny is right, and the boy is capable of handling himself." Perry sighed as he started removing the armor he was wearing and placed it back on a mannequin. Chapter 22 "Now that we have some new armor and a weapon for you Garrett, I think it is about time we head out to deliver that package for the guild quest." Blixie said as she kept staring at her new bracers. "Unless there is something else you want to get?" "No, I think I''m good. Let''s head out to Lakefall." Garrett responded as he started walking away from Pangolins Protections with the morning sun in his face. "Hey Garrett, Grandma Jenny said Lakefall was east not west." Blixie called out. "Oh, thanks Blixie." Garrett said sheepishly. "Guess I still have a few things to learn about your world." The group headed off east through the small village and passed under the gates with a wave from the guards. A wide, flower filled field greeted them with a well-worn road heading off over the distant hills. A few hours passed by quickly while the village slowly grew smaller behind them. The field of flowers slowly thinned out until only the rolling hills remained with a few trees and bushes here and there. "I think we are far enough away from town for others to not hear us." Kyle said. "Man, it was hard to not talk that whole time. We have got to come up with a reason that would explain how I could talk with people. Any ideas Blixie? You know this world." Blixie looked over at Kyle while she floated along on a light breeze. "The only slimes that I have heard of talking are usually humanoid in shape, and even then, it is more of just a mimicry to lure in prey or unwary adventurers. No real intelligence behind it." "What about a magic item, or a skill? Oh, maybe I got cursed and my body got changed into a slime?" Kyle said with a hopeful voice. "As a slime I don''t even think you can use a magic item. A weapon maybe but nothing that could explain why you could talk." Blixie thought for a moment. "The curse angle could work as long as we don''t run into anyone that can examine magical properties since they would sense no curses on you." She sighed in frustration. "I''m sorry Kyle. For now, you will just have to stay quiet while we are around people and play the part of faithful familiar, at least until we come up with a better idea." Kyle sighed in disappointment. "Cheer up Kyle." Blixie quickly said. "As adventurers it wouldn''t be weird for us to be out of town and away from people for long periods of time." "That helps I guess." Kyle said. "But if I''m only talking to the two of you it''s going to get a little old after a while. No offense." "I understand. When I was first assigned to Garret, I didn''t think he could talk." Blixie laughed. "I had resigned myself to a couple of boring years waiting until we could talk. Even after we started talking it would get boring sometimes since he would just lose himself in making his dungeon." "It''s not my fault I would lose time while making things." Garrett chimed in. "I''m pretty sure that is just a dungeon core thing." Blixie chuckled. "Oh, it definitely is a dungeon core thing. At school we were told about a dungeon so focused on creating and modifying their dungeon that they went about twenty years without talking to their guide." Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Well at least we might have someone else new to talk to soon, if they will start talking." Garrett said. "What do you mean?" Kyle asked. "Well, so far there have only been two things I couldn''t pick up with my Unseen Force skill. My core and the bottle you were in. Since you couldn''t touch the shield, I figured I would try, and my skill just slid off like it wasn''t even there. So maybe it is one of our friends that reincarnated but I haven''t heard them talk at all." "Well, even if it is one of our friends maybe they can''t talk since it is a shield. Right?" "That makes sense I guess, but I haven''t even felt it move or anything." "Then maybe it is just a cursed shield and can only be picked up by something that could normally use it." Blixie said. "Well, we will have to see about that later. I think I see a goblin trying to hide behind a rock off to our left." Garrett floated to the very top of his range and saw over a small set of boulders that had tumbled from a nearby hill. A small green creature the size of a child peered around the edge of a boulder. "Yup, I would say a typical goblin. I don''t think it has noticed that I see it." "If there is one goblin there are probably around five more hanging around." Blixie said calmly as she looked around for other goblins. Trees were scattered here and there with a few more clusters of rocks interspersed between them. "A goblin? Where?" Kyle said loudly and quickly looked around. The goblin jumped slightly in surprise thinking that it might have been discovered. It turned and ran toward the hills behind it. "Looks like it saw us." Garrett said. "We should get out of here while it is gone." "Might as well." Blixie responded. "If there were other goblins about, they would have attacked already." Squelch, Squick. The three had just restarted their trek when they heard a couple of sounds. "What was that?" Kyle asked. They looked around for the source of the noise. "It looks like you two just got shot." Blixie responded and pointed at an arrow poking out of Kyle and one out of the back of Garrett''s puppet body. "So that was what that feeling was." Kyle said. "I thought I had just picked up something again." Squelch, Squick. Another arrow lodged itself into Kyle and one into Garretts shoulder. Garrett looked back among the trees beside the road and saw two goblins with very crude bows. "Good time to try out that idea of yours Kyle." he said and quickly made two small dagger-like shards of rock from the ground and threw them at the goblins with his Unseen Force skill. The goblins yipped in surprise as one of the rocks hit the chest of a goblin and killed it. The other rock bounced off of a tree beside the other goblin. The goblin yelled something in a throaty, hacking language before turning around and running away through the trees. "Looks like your aim needs work Garrett." Kyle said quickly before he formed his body into a ball and quickly rolled and bounced his way after the goblin. It took only a couple of seconds for him to catch up to the small green creature. Kyle bounced into the air and launched a tentacle at the goblin and pierced it through the chest. He then rolled back to Garrett and Blixie. "Got him." "Great job, Kyle!" Blixie cheered. "Now where did that first goblin go?" Garrett looked back to the rocks and saw the first goblin running toward the hills behind it. "Looks like it is running away to get reinforcements. We should go and finish it off before that happens. Maybe there will be a reward at the adventurers guild for killing these goblins." Garrett quickly made some more rock shards and launched them at the goblin. The shards flew quickly through the air but fell short by a few dozen feet. "I thought those would have gone further." Garrett said as he started chasing after the goblin. Kyle and Blixie followed after him. They saw the goblin run into a small cave entrance hidden by some bushes. They would have easily missed it if they hadn''t seen the goblin run into it. "We should be careful." Blixie warned. "We don''t know what we could be walking into." Chapter 23 "I will scout ahead." Kyle said quietly as the group approached the cave. He squished down as flat as he could and started slithering along the ground looking like a sentient puddle. He reached the mouth of the cave and peered inside. The light from outside reached into the cave for a couple of feet before being devoured by the darkness and would have made it hard to navigate for those that relied on sight alone. The cave was pretty small being only about ten feet wide and twenty feet deep, but Kyle noticed a small tunnel near the back, obscured by the contours of the cave walls and the shadows. He didn''t see any other creatures in the cave. He raised a tentacle into the air and made a circular motion to signal the others that it was all clear before he flowed slowly across the floor making his way back through the cave. He was halfway through the cave when he sensed a couple of goblins coming down the tunnel. He quickly turned into a ball and rolled to the nearest wall and pancaked against it before the goblins could see him. Thank goodness I have that Mana Sense skill. Kyle thought to himself. He flowed up the wall and onto the ceiling by the time the two goblins exited the tunnel and walked into the cave. The goblins were quietly chatting in a coarse language with very few vowels and lots of grunting. From his vantage point, he saw Garrett and Blixie near the edge of the cave and used a tentacle to make a couple of arrows pointing at the goblins below him. Garrett nodded back when he noticed Kyle''s arrows and formed a couple of spikes from the surrounding dirt. Kyle retracted one of the slime arrows into the other until he was only pointing at the goblin slightly further back in the cave and let go from the ceiling. He quickly fell and engulfed the goblins head. The goblin gurgled out a scream and flailed its arms to dislodge the creature now trying to eat its head. The lead goblin swung around at the sound just as Garrett''s spikes found purchase in its back, dying instantly. The goblin currently engulfed by Kyle slumped to the floor and suffocated about ten seconds later. Garrett and Blixie walked into the cave. "That was a bit easier than I thought it would be." Garrett remarked. "I sensed some more goblins further back in the cave." Kyle said as he pointed to the darkness that the goblins had come from. "Just not sure how many. My mana sense couldn''t reach the back of the cave. Let me go scout it out." "Sounds good. We will wait here and prepare." Kyle started to move away before he stopped and turned to Garrett. "Wait, Garrett. Do you still have that bottle you found me in?" Garrett pulled out the small glass bottle. "Yea, why?" Kyle reached a tentacle over and poured a small amount of liquid into the bottle. "There." Kyle quickly oozed back up to the ceiling and worked his way through the tunnel the goblins had come from. Kyle realized that the tunnel sloped downwards, gradually taking him deeper into the earth. About a minute later he emerged into a large cavern. He moved from one stalactite to another keeping a watch out for goblins. After a few minutes of circling the ceiling Kyle moved to a spot near the tunnel he had come through and focused on his Puddle Scout skill. "Hey guys," He quietly whispered. Garrett and Blixie were startled when Kyle''s voice whispered out of the bottle. "Hey Kyle," Garrett responded. "I thought you could only listen when you used this skill." "It has leveled up since we last talked about it, but we can go over that later. Let''s deal with the goblins first." Kyle responded. "The cave back here is only about twenty feet deep or so. There are a couple of goblins near the middle of the cave, and a larger one near the back. It also looks like they might have a bear under their control somehow." This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Thats not really strange." Blixie chimed in. "Some people, and monsters, have skills that allow them to befriend or control animals. The big goblin might be a shaman of sorts with a nature element so we will need to watch out for rock attacks or maybe even plants. He could also be a healer, either way we should try to take him out first." "Sounds good, I will drop on him like the last goblin." Kyle said. "Just give the word when you are ready." Kyle quietly blobbed across the ceiling into position while Garrett and Blixie moved down the tunnel. Garrett pulled a few stone spikes out of the ground as he went and held them in the air with Unseen Force while he readied his sword and new demon-faced shield in case he missed his shots. When Garrett and Blixie reached the end of the tunnel they saw that the cave is fairly open with only a few small stalagmites on the ground. There is a small fire near the back of the cave where there is a goblin that is about a head taller than the two goblins sitting in the middle of the cave. They also see a furry lump by the fire, that is the bear Kyle mentioned they conclude. "Alright Kyle, we are in position." Blixie whispers into the bottle. "Go in three, two," Blixie counts down while Garrett takes aim at the two goblins in the middle of the cave. "One." Garrett Launched two of his spikes in rapid succession and nailed both of the smaller goblins in the torso while Kyle dropped from the ceiling onto the bigger goblins head. There was a loud screech from the smaller goblins as they were stabbed with the stone spikes, but not killed outright, and a gurgle from the goblin currently drowning inside Kyle. A couple more spikes finished off the smaller goblins as the large mound of hair stirred and slowly stood up. the mountain of fur stood over seven feet tall and looked like a furry goblin head had been placed on a bear. Its arms hung unnaturally long, almost brushing its knees. It was dressed in just a loincloth but had a metal shoulder guard covering one shoulder and a bracer covering its opposite forearm. Blixie recognized the large creature that now stood at the back of the cave, towering over the goblin and Kyle. "That''s not a bear." She whispered as it bellowed and raised a large double-bladed axe it clutched it one hand. "That''s a bugbear." She shouted. The bugbear turned toward the shout and saw Garrett and Blixie standing by the cave entrance and charged at them. Garrett launched the last of his spikes at the bugbear. The bugbear easy destroyed the spikes with a few quick swipes of its axe. With a powerful leap the bugbear closed the distance and brought his axe down in a two-handed overhead chop. Garrett dodged to his right, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in two, as the axe slammed into the ground and sunk about an inch while spraying rock chips around. Garrett retaliated with a quick backhand swing and cut into the bugbear''s thigh. The bugbear gave a grunt from the pain and slammed Garrett in the chest with its oversized fist. Garrett was lifted off of the ground and sent flying back into the nearby wall. He saw the bugbear rip the axe from the ground and run toward him before he could react. Garrett had just enough time to lift his shield to block an angled swing from the bugbear. Just before the axe made contact the shield pulled against Garrett''s arm. The axe slid over the top of the shield and cleaved through Garrett. The bugbears laugh of triumph was cut short as Garrett''s sword slid through its chest and pierced its heart. Its eyes grew wide in disbelief as Garrett still stood before it, although Garretts head and arm floated an inch above the rest of him. The bugbear slumped to the ground. Garrett looked over to where Kyle still clung to the large goblins head. The goblin tried to dislodge Kyle by whacking him with a gnarled wooden staff with a few feathers tied on the end. Kyle stared at Garrett. "That''s pretty disturbing dude." He yelled as the wooden staff kept smacking him with a wet squelch. The goblin had dropped down to his knees and the force he was hitting Kyle with was dropping dramatically before he slumped to the floor. The wooden staff clattered softly off the stone floor as the goblin died. "Luckily the heart in that body of yours isn''t pumping or that would be even worse." He chuckled as he oozed off of the goblins head. "Since that fight is done, Let''s look for loot!" he cheered. Garrett looked down and used his Unseen Force skill to effectively pull his borrowed body back together. "Looks like I will need to find a new shirt." He commented. He felt a tug coming from his shield and looked over to see that the arm of the bugbear had lifted to grab the front of his shield. Odd. He thought. I''m sure the bugbear is dead. He moved his spirit orb to see the front of the shield and was surprised. The mouth of the shield had opened up and was chewing on the bugbears arm. Chapter 24 "Hey Blixie!''" Garrett called out. "Why is the shield trying to eat this guy?" Garrett shook his arm and used a few strands of Unseen Force to try and pull the bugbear arm away from the shield''s mouth. Blixie flew over to take a look. "I''m not sure Garrett. I haven''t heard of any cursed items that could eat things." "Is it a mimic?" Kyle said as he came over to take a look. The body of the larger goblin was being dragged behind him with a tentacle, and he carried the staff above him with another tentacle. "If it was a mimic, it would have just attacked and eaten the other adventurers that had the shield before us. Are you sure it is not one of your friends that George told you about? The gems that are used for the eyes are the same color as yours and Kyles cores." With a groan and a loud snap of tearing leather, the bugbear''s arm popped free of the shield that was gnawing on it. "I had the thought that it might have been one of us since I couldn''t grab it directly with my Unseen Force skill." A soft grinding of metal on metal could be heard as the bugbear''s bracer was swallowed by the shield and chewed up. "I''ve tried talking to it a few times since we left the shop, but I haven''t gotten a response at all. You are absolutely sure about it not being a mimic Blixie?" "Absolutely." Blixie said proudly. "We learn about a lot of different types of monsters while we are in the academy since we don''t know what type of dungeon we will be assigned to." Blixie struck a pose as if teaching a class. "Mimics that are created in dungeons usually take the shape of chests, but they can also take the shape of doors, beds, or crates. Usually something box shaped. Very rarely they can take on other shapes, but they are still rather large, like a table or maybe a chair. They are immobile and hunt by letting their prey come to them and thus are categorized as a trap monster, along with some slimes and spiders. If this shield was a mimic, it would be pretty weak and only able to kill the weakest of adventurers with how small it is." An audible gulp was heard from the shield and the three turned to look at it as it spit out the leather straps from the bracer. "Huh." Garrett said as the shield then lunged for the bugbear again. Before Garrett could react, the shield had latched onto the bugbears shoulder and started to chew on the shoulder guard. Garrett tried to pry the shield off of the bugbear again with no success. "Well, it seems to only be going after the bugbear''s armor." Garrett said. "Not a big deal I guess." "Not a big deal?!" Kyle exclaimed. "We could have sold it." "True, but we still have the bugbears'' axe." Garrett replied as he put the axe away in his inventory. "Did the goblin chieftain have anything on him?" Blixie asked. "Let''s take a look." Kyle replied. "He had the stick..." "Staff." Blixie corrected. "He had the staff," Kyle continued as he felt through the goblins tunic, " and looks like a necklace with a wolfs fang. I think that is all, at least as far as I''m seeing." "What are the stats on them Kyle?" Garrett asked. "Stats?" Blixie asked confused. A familiar popping sound was heard as the metal shoulder guard ripped free from the bugbear. The group ignored the sound of softly grinding metal. "It''s short for status." Kyle said. "I don''t see anything Garrett." "They must not be magical." Blixie said. "Only magical items will have an identification window pop up when they are picked up." "If that is the case Blixie, why didn''t I get one when the shield appeared on my back." "Ahh, that was soooo good." Said a soft feminine voice. "Umm, Garrett?" Blixie said with concern as she floated away from him. "I think your shield is alive." "I knew it was a mimic." Kyle yelled as he got ready for a fight. "Mimic?" Said that same feminine voice. "Where?" The shield swung lightly from side to side. "I don''t see a treasure chest anywhere." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Garrett floated in front of the shield and saw that the demonic face now looked quite worried. "He''s saying you are the mimic." Garrett replied to the shield. "I''m not a mimic, I''m a shield. At least, that is what my status says." Came a flustered reply. "Wait, you can hear me?" The shields face become excited. "Why can you hear me now though? I''ve been trying to talk to you since we left the shop, Garrett, and you haven''t responded. Which is kind of rude, you know? I thought we were friends." The shield hmphed. "Wait, friends?" Garrett''s memories came rushing in. The smell of smoke. The burning heat of a fire. The fear of being trapped underground. a smiling female face appeared. "April?" "Bingo." The shield replied. "I was so surprised when I heard your names. I wasn''t quite sure it was you either until Kyle, started talking about weapons. By the way Kyle, should I start calling you squishy?" The feminine laugh was at odds with the very large demon face of the shield. "I told you we should have used a different name." Kyle huffed. "You remember your past life?" Garrett asked confused. "Well yea, I remember my life before coming here. At least up until going into that tunnel. Don''t you?" "I do now thanks to George, but I didn''t when I first woke up in this world." "Old man George is here too." April exclaimed. "Where is he?" "It''s a weird story." Gerrett told April the story from how he first woke up in a crystal, to meeting Blixie, his first death and subsequent meeting with George. He wrapped it up by describing how he meet Kyle and finally joined the adventures guild. Blixie and Kyle chimed in here and there to fill in gaps or give their perspective. "...and so, we are on our way to the next town to drop of a package." "Wow." April replied. "Who would have thought George was a god from a different world. He was always rather squirrelly when it came to talking about where he was from, and he was always so excited and would get absorbed by the games I kind of thought he was in witness protection or something." "So, what about you April? You seem rather calm about being a giant shield." Garrett asked. "Well, when I first woke up here it was really dark, and I couldn''t move. I just thought I was in the hospital because of an accident or maybe I passed out after gaming too hard again. It felt like I was stuck in that darkness for a long time. I even started seeing floating menus like in games and that is where I saw that my race said ''shield'', so I thought I was going crazy or maybe in a comma, but there was nothing I could do but wait. I guess I just grew kind of numb to the situation at some point until someone dug me out and I found I was in some old, collapsed ruins. Then they sold me to that armor shop. I''ve been trying to talk to people for the last few months but everyone that bought me couldn''t hear me." "Wow." Kyle said. "I thought being in a bottle was bad, but at least I was able to see where I was." "But, if people couldn''t hear you, why would they think you are cursed?" Garrett asked. "Well, getting hit hurts." April said defensively. "So, anytime I was in a fight I would try not to get hit. I guess people don''t like a shield that doesn''t block." She giggled. "So, they would take me back to the shop. I''m just so glad you guys found me. You won''t get rid of me, right?" "What kind of friends would we be if we did? The friends who die together get transmigrated together." Kyle laughed. An idea popped into Blixie''s mind. "If we can hear you now when we couldn''t before, it must be because of a skill. You should check your status to see if anything has changed."
Name: April Species: Living Shield Level: 1
Exp: 0 Exp to next level: 100 Element: Metal/Fire
0/10 MP Unused skill points: 0 SKills: Ferrous Forming 2
"It looks like my Ferrous Forming skill increased a level. Whatever that is, and my MP is gone, which is weird since it hasn''t changed since I first read my status." "Ferrous Forming sounds like a skill for shaping or controlling metals." Blixie said. "Specifically, iron or its alloys maybe. Hard to be sure since there are many different metals and metal-based skills. Since your mana is gone and your skill increased then you must have used your skill for something." Blixie thought for a moment then snapped her fingers as an idea formed. "You must have used your mana to assimilate the armor you ate using Ferrous Forming and created a way to talk." "But wouldn''t she have to focus and shape the metal into a specific shape or form like I do with my Earth Shaping skill?" Garrett asked. "April wasn''t an engineer back in our world." "Engineer?" Blixie questioned. "You could think of it as a blacksmith or tinkerer here." Kyle said. "Ahh, right. One of your otherworld terms." Blixie said. "Why do I even ask anymore." She mumbled shaking her head. "Anyway, she wouldn''t have to be a tinkerer necessarily. Sometimes skills are more intuitive. You just have to think of what you want the skill to do, and it will do it. Usually happens more with the abstract skills but it depends on how you use a skill as well." "So, pretty much magic and skills are weird and don''t really have set rules." Kyle said. "Skills are not weird and yes they have rules...most of the time." Blixie replied defensively. "But I guess from your perspective of only being here for a few months I guess you could say that." "How about we figure this out later." Garrett interjected. "We still have a package to deliver." Chapter 25 When the Garrett and the rest of the group walked out of the cave night had fallen. The light of two moons illuminated the world around them. "I never realized that there are two moons in the sky." Garrett commented. "Hey Blixie, what are they called?" "I''m glad you asked." Blixie responded. "The large white one is called Nerallia. It is the realm of the goddess Neral, wife to the god of the oceans." Blixie then pointed to the smaller green one that looked to be about half the size of Nerallia. "And the green one is called Malicax. It was actually the largest magic academy for an ancient kingdom. Those that studied there were the best mages of the kingdom, but they started to convince people that magic had rules and reasons tied to nature. They called it ''science'' or something and stopped giving the gods of magic any credit or praise. So, the gods of magic decided to scoop the academy, and part of the mountain it was on, right out of the ground and into the air, out of reach of anybody." "That seems like a bit of an overreaction." Kyle said. "The gods are known to have a bit of an ego. Well, most of them at least." "Thanks, Blixie." Garrett said. "I always loved learning about myths and folktales, but I guess here myths and folklore are more along the lines of history since we already met a god." Garrett laughed. Since none of them needed to sleep Garrett suggested they just continue through the night until they get to the town where they are supposed to drop off the package. Everyone agreed and they headed off. They didn''t run into any other troubles during the night and by the time that the first rays of dawn were shining they crested a large hill and looked down on the town of Lakefall. It was about twice as large as Arenthia and was surrounded by a stone wall. "I''m guessing the town got its name from that?" Garrett asked as he pointed at a large lake the town was nestled against with what looked like a waterfall pouring into the middle of it. The group looked up to see what appeared to be a large island floating above the lake that the water flowed from. "Yup." Blixie said cheerfully. "The island is the floating dungeon of Amu''dren. The town built up around it about two hundred years ago or so when the dungeon was still on the ground. Back then they just called it Drenton, but about a century later the dungeon evolved and acquired the ability to float and so the town changed its name to be more exciting." "A real dungeon?" Kyle said excitedly. "Can we go? Please?" He pleaded. "Maybe." Blixie replied. "It would be nice to show Garrett what a real dungeon should be." "I feel a little insulted." Garrett said with a laugh. "Sorry." Blixie apologized. "It wasn''t meant to be an insult. It''s just that you are so different from any dungeons I have heard about in my school. Dungeons don''t usually get up and walk around, or swing swords." Garrett laughed. "It''s okay Blixie. I know I''m different from the usual dungeons that you have told me about. Let''s go drop this package off at the guild office and maybe we could get more info about the dungeon there. I don''t want to be walking in blind." The group agreed and continued on. It took another couple of hours to reach the outer gates of Lakefall. The gates hung open with several guards on either side. A line of merchants and adventures leading in had already formed. The group watched as one guard would talk to the leader of the group at the front of the line as a pair of guards would inspect any wagons or carts. The line moved fairly quickly, and Garrett and the others only had to wait about twenty minutes before the guard approached them. "What is your business in Lakefall today?" He asked in a bored tone. "We are on a quest to deliver a package to the guild office here." Garrett stated excitedly and showed the guard his guild card. "If you or anyone in your party needs any healing there is a temple just down to the right." The guards'' nose wrinkled as he took a step closer to Garrett to check the card. "There is also a public bath right before it." The guard then waved them through the gates. "That last comment seemed a little unnecessary." Garrett said once they were past the gates. Blixie flew up to Garrett and sniffed. "Ugh. You are starting to stink." Blixie said as she quickly backed up. "Might be time to get a fresh puppet." "Maybe, but where?" Garrett responded as he focused on his Air Shaping skill to try and bolster it to further contain the smell. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Maybe after completing the quest, we could look at the armor shop to see if they have any cheap suits of full armor like you talked about." Blixie said as she casually floated beside him. "That is a great idea Blixie. Let''s find the guild quickly and turn in this quest." Garrett said excitedly. The group headed down the main road that the other merchants and bodyguards were walking along. Shops lined the road, some selling travel goods such as ropes and bags, others selling foods that would travel well. Within a few minutes they found the temple the guard told them about. It was the only stone building around with various symbols depicting the different gods of this world. "Is it common for a temple to cater to multiple gods Blixie?" "In the smaller towns like Lakefall it is," Blixie replied. "But usually there are separate temples for each god." "Good to know. We will have to see if we can find one dedicated to George in a larger town." Garrett commented. "Now we just have to find the guild office." Garrett looked around hoping to maybe find someone that looked like an adventurer, but he spotted a green tentacle wave in his view. He looked down at Kyle and saw him point across the road. He saw the Stylized ''A'' of the Adventurers Guild above a door on a building that looked like it was shoved between two shops. It was just wide enough to have a door. Garrett looked at Kyle. "Thanks. Are all the guild branches going to be like this?" He sighed. "I couldn''t tell you Garrett." Blixie responded. "I haven''t gotten to see much of the world outside of the school before being assigned to your dungeon." Garrett looked at Blixie confused before he just burst into laughter. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn''t mean to laugh. There is a kind of custom in the stories of our world about buildings, or the people working in them, looking the exact same. So, I don''t know why I didn''t expect that here." When the group entered the guild office Garrett half expected another Grandma Jenny to be sitting on a stool behind the counter. Instead, there was a large, green-skinned man whose shoulders almost brushed against the walls as he stood there. He had short black hair, a small scar across his forehead, and two small tusks sticking up from his lower lip. "Welcome to the adventurers guild. What can I do for you sir?" He said in a surprisingly refined voice. "Um, I''m here to drop off a package for a quest." Garrett said as he pulled out the small box from behind him and placed it on the counter. The large man inspected the box and gave a small smirk. "Do you have your guild card?" Garrett pulled out his card and handed it over to him. He took the card and placed it inside a small slot in a crystal ball that he had pulled out from under the counter. a small blue screen popped up above the crystal.
Name Garrett
Rank F
Active Quests None
"Looks like Old Jenny is up to her tricks again." The large green man said with a chuckle. Garrett looked at him confused. "Oh, pardon. I haven''t even introduced myself. I am Gelbore." He said with a slight bow. "People just call me Gel." "Nice to meet you Gel. I''m Garrett. My pixie companion here is named Blixie, and this is my pet slime, Squishy." Garrett replied with a small flourish. "What did you mean about Old Jenny up to her tricks?" "Go ahead and open it to see for yourself." Gelbore motioned to the box. Garrett peeled off the paper sealing the box and lifted the top to reveal an assortment of bread, cheeses, and dried meats, along with a fruit pie. "Grandma Jenny likes to help out new recruits, so she sends them out on an unofficial quest to deliver a box, but since there is no actual quest there are two choices. Either return the box to her or keep the box for yourself. Most just keep it." "Why wouldn''t she just tell me it was to help me out?" "What did you do when she offered you some silver?" Gel said with a smirk. "I tried to turn her down and return it." "Exactly. Most new guild recruits are out to prove themselves and would turn down the offer of help. So, by the time they find out about Jenny''s little trick they are too far away to turn her down." "I see. Well, I will have to thank her if I ever see her again. Do you have any official quests I can take? Maybe for something inside the Dungeon?" Garrett asked hopefully. "Whoa. Slow down son. Only adventurers of ''C'' rank and above are allowed to go into the dungeon. I do have a quest to go hunt some horned rabbits in the forest out east though that I think would work for you. Otherwise, there are a few quests inside the town that could be done, like finding and returning Ms. Abertas'' cat." "I''ll take the quest for rabbits." Garrett replied with a sigh. "Don''t worry son. Just keep working on the smaller quests and building your skills and you will be up to rank ''C'' in no time." Gelbore said as he pulled a small slip of paper from under the counter and pushed it into the blue screen that still hovered over the crystal. He pulled out Garret''s card and handed it back. "There you go. Your first official quest. Just kill ten horned rabbits. The magic in your guild card will absorb a trace amount of the rabbit''s mana and record the number of kills for you so you don''t have to worry about bringing any proof back with you." "Great. Do you have any suggestions for a good inn to stay at while we are here?" "Of course. I would recommend the Plucked Hen. It''s not the fanciest but they do serve the best mead marinated chicken in town. Just take a left out of the office and head down a few streets, turn left at Franks Fineries and go down until you see it on the right." "Thanks Gel. I guess we will be heading out." The group left the shop and headed out to explore the town with a little less enthusiasm at knowing they wouldn''t get to go inside the dungeon. Chapter 26 They stepped out of the guild office and headed towards the Plucked Hen that Gelbore had suggested. After a short walk they reached Franks Fineries, which seemed to be a store that catered to the wealthier merchants, or at least the more flamboyant. Inside the windows they saw colorful ballgowns in various shades of reds, blues, and greens, with overly poofy skirts. Well-cut suits hung on the other side of the shop in matching colors. The group turned left and continued down the road until they saw a sign showing a plucked chicken running away from a hand. It rested above a set of heavy, wooden doors that have seen enough use that the carvings of chickens have worn away where people have pushed on them. "I guess this is the place." Garrett said. "Do you want to get a room and discuss our plans for the next few days, or should we wander the town a little bit since it is still pretty early?" "We could also just go start on that quest you picked up." Blixie suggested. Kyle extended a tentacle toward Garrett to get his attention, pointed it at him, then waved it in front of himself to remind them of Garrett''s smell. "Right." Garrett sighed. "We should probably try to take care of that first. Let''s see if we can find an armor shop first." They started walking back toward the main road when Garrett''s body was suddenly pulled a bit to the side, toward a small alley. "Do you smell that delicious smell?" Garrett heard a soft feminine voice say from the large shield on his back. Garrett quickly looked around to see if anybody had noticed April, the living shield, talking. He quickly got everyone inside the small alleyway that April had pulled him toward. "April." He chided her. "You can''t just randomly talk. People will get suspicious." "Sorry, Garrett." She responded. " I just smelled something really tasty and couldn''t help myself. Can''t you smell it?" "No, I don''t have a nose." "How can you smell anything April?" Interjected Kyle. "You don''t have a nose either, at least not that I can see." April''s large demon face looked confused. "I don''t know. I don''t remember smelling anything until now either, but I just know something smells really good down this alley." "Hmm." Blixie said with her chin in her hand. "I for one, smell a mystery that needs solving." She said with a grin. April and Kyle gave a soft groan. "Not you too." April mumbled. "What? I thought it was pretty funny." Blixie said. Garrett chuckled. "What harm is there in checking it out. I''m interested in seeing what she is smelling." The others just shrugged and followed Garrett down the alleyway, led by April''s ''nose'' while Garrett held her in front of him. After half-an-hour, several turns, and streets crossed they found themselves in an old rundown part of town. The alleyway they were in ended with the outer wall in front of them and several boarded-up windows to their left. To their right they were surprised to see it opened up into a small, dried-up courtyard with only a few patches of scraggly grass and the skeletal remains of a once mighty tree, withered and split, in the center. Beyond was a small stone building with a slight glow coming from under a metal door and the smell of smoke clinging in the air. A couple of small, rusted chains hung from a post above the door as a testament of where a small sign once hung. "The smell is coming from here. I''m sure of it!" April said, her eyes practically sparkled. "If you say so April." Kyle said. "But it looks like the only person here would be a beggar on their last legs considering how hard it was to get here." Garrett looked at the two. "Well, we''re here so..." He walked up and knocked heavily on the door. Three dull thumps rung out in time to his pounding, clouds of rust puffed off the door with every heavy knock. An unnatural quite settled around them as they waited. After what felt like minutes to the group the door slowly creaked open revealing a room bathed in a bright glow and the darkened silhouette of a stout creature. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Who comes to bother me!" They heard a deep but creaky voice call out. "Ah." The creature called out in surprise. "Finally come to get me demon? Well, I won''t go down without a fight!" The group stood there confused at the rantings of this small shadow before a spindly arm shot out and slammed into the middle of April''s face with a dull thud. a second of confusion passed before a small snap was heard from the shadows arm. "Ugh! My arm." The shadow cried out. "Ow! My nose." April cried out. Garrett looked at the shadow, then to April, and back to the shadow that had fallen to the ground gripping its arm. "Did that actually hurt April?" "Why would you ask that?" April growled. "Of course, it..." She paused. "Actually, no it didn''t. huh, must have been a reflex I guess." The group all turned to look at the small shadow rolling on the ground that was now revealed by the glow. What they saw was a small grey clump of cloth with two dark brown, stick like arms poking out. "Are you okay?" Garrett asked as he quickly placed April on his back. The mass of rags stopped and turned to get a good look at the group. The face of what once must have been a dwarf, before the ravages of time took their toll, looked back at them. "Who are you?" The dwarf asked in a deep crackly voice. "Sorry sir." Blixie said as she landed on Garretts shoulder. "We didn''t mean to scare you. We seem to have gotten a little turned around in the alleys. Could you tell us where we are?" Garrett offered a hand to help the dwarf up. "It''s fine." The dwarf replied. "My eyes aren''t what they used to be after so long in front of a forge." He grabbed Garretts hand and was pulled to his feet. "But I could have sworn I saw a demon when I opened the door." Garrett glanced back at April. "Welcome to ''Wally''s Workshop''. Finest forge west of the Devils spine mountains." He wheezed before doubling over in a fit of coughing. He held up a hand to stop Blixie from flying over to him. "Don''t worry about me. When you get to be my age things just start to rattle unexpectedly." He chuckled. Kyle looked around the room and saw a large hearth like forge took up half of the room on the far wall that provided the bright illumination for the room. Besides that, the room looked to be in a state of great disrepair. Cobwebs filled the corners and rafters of the room, several broken chairs lay in a corner, and a thick layer of dust clung to everything else. Kyle hmphed and shook what amounted to his head before he caught himself. The dwarf shot Kyle a glare. "You don''t think so?" He growled before sweeping his hand around. "I''ll have you know that this forge created the greatest weapons back in the day. Ironjaw, the unbreakable shield; Thunderdraw, the bow that could split the heavens; Caskless, the mug that never ran dry. Everyone wanted something from ''Wally''s Workshop''." He started to rant before devolving into another coughing fit and slumped to the floor wheezing. "Wait," Blixie gasped. "Are you saying that this is the workshop of Walliman Wendal Strongcask?" Garrett and Kyle looked at her confused. She quickly pulled out her book that contained her collection of Legends cards and flipped to a section. "Here." She said as she showed the book to them. "Ironjaw, the unbreakable shield. Wielded by Gorum Stronglegs, hero of Grundok. Said to have blocked the rampage of the fire giant Nedrik." She pointed to a card that depicted a large silver shield that was in the shape of a curled up, shark creature with legs. She quickly pointed to another that was a bow made of charred wood and intricate metal worked throughout it. "Thunderdraw, the bow that could split the heavens. Carried by Endra the elf hero when Ca''rok the Terrible tried to cover the forests of the elves in permanent winter. One well-placed shot pierced the storm clouds and laid Ca''rok low, ending his reign of terror." She flipped a couple of more pages before pointing at a wooden mug with some iron banding that made it look like a miniature cask with a handle. "Caskless, the mug that never ran dry. There were actually several of these created for dwarven heroes so they would never go thirsty. I heard they had great feasts with these. They could recreate any ale or wine that you could desire as long as you had filled up the mug with it before." "If this is his workshop, and his creations were so great, then why is this place in such a mess?" Garrett asked. "Walliman disappeared more than a century ago and no one has been able to figure out what happened to him. Some people are starting to think he was just a legend. A name thought up to sell weapons and goods found in the deepest dungeons." Blixie''s eyes opened wide before she shot over to hover in front of the dwarf. "Wait since you live here do you know what might have happened to him?" The dwarf slowly pulled himself off the floor. "A man closes his door for a short vacation and suddenly everyone forgets about him, but I admit I have let the forge get a bit dusty." He held out his skeletal arm and hand. "I guess I never did introduce myself. Walliman Wendal Strongcask is my name, but people just call me Wally." Chapter 27 Garrett shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Wally. "I''m Garrett. This is Blixie and my pet slime Squishy." He motioned to the others. "So where have you been for the last hundred years?" "Oh, I''ve been off here and there traveling and looking for inspiration and materials for my latest works." Wally said as he moved to a door on the left wall and flung it open. "I created what I call a heating element using the scales and blood of a salamander. It will keep a room comfortably warm, or it can be used to heat an oven without the need for using wood." Blixie looked at his excited face and in a quiet voice said, "Umm, enchanters figured out how to do those things a couple of decades ago using normal monster cores as a source of power." Wallie''s face fell a little bit. "I see. No matter then." He said as he tossed his creation to the side. "What about this?" He asked as he held up a small replica of a house. "I call it indoor water on request. This is a model that I designed to show the use of an Undines core and a network of metal pipes throughout a house to fill your bathing tub or even your pots for cooking and washing without having to carry heavy buckets from a well." "Enchanters made something similar in larger cities by connecting pipes to a portal to the elemental plane of water to provide water for whole cities. It even allows for indoor toilets." Blixie replied. His face fell a little further. "What about a torch that won''t lose its flame and doesn''t give off heat or burn things? You would never have to worry about lighting up a home or going into a dark dungeon." "Mana powered light crystals in homes and on poles along streets were first created about twenty years ago by enchanters. Adventurers also carry a stone with a similar enchantment instead of torches." Blixie said with a sigh. "In fact, Garrett has one." With a sigh Wally plopped onto the ground. "I guess they probably have this then." He pulled out what looked like a plain metal helmet that had several rings of runes on it. Blixie stared at it in confusion then pulled out her Legends cards and flipped through the pages. "I don''t recognize it. What does it do." She asked. "It is just a simple helmet that cleans, cuts, colors, and styles one''s hair." He said in a bored tone. "Something simple that only took me a few years to make, but everyone probably already has one if enchanters have advanced as far as you say they have." He tossed the helmet into the fire burning in the oversized hearth with a grunt of frustration. "I guess no one needs an old out of touch smith like me anymore." "Ahhh!" Blixie yelled in horror as she rushed toward the fire to pull out the helmet. "What are you doing. You would be famous if you sold that in the cities. There has never been anything like that yet." The fire was too hot for her to get closer than a couple of feet. Garrett felt April tug him toward the closet that Wally was pulling his creations out of. He looked in and saw an arm made of metal poking out of a pile of scraps that had been pushed into a corner. "What is that, Wally?" He asked as he pointed to it. Wally looked back and huffed. "Just a failed experiment from a few decades ago." He said as he reached over and pulled out a metal mannequin that was about the size of the orc from the Adventurers guild. It was missing the front chest plate and was full of gears and wires and springs. "I was trying to recreate a suite of armor I saw in a dungeon once. It was supposed to move under its own power and be an assistant, but I could never get it right. I had forgotten about it." Garrett felt April practically vibrating on his arm before she somehow jumped onto the mannequin and landed on its chest. "Sorry Wally." He said. "The straps on my shield must be loose." Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Wally stared wide eyed as a small glow shone from under the shield and a slight buzzing sound started. "Is that? A Living Shield! Of course." He shouted as he picked himself up off the ground. "Why didn''t I think of that. It makes complete sense now." He excitedly walked around and examined the mannequin. "Wait, you know what a Living Shield is?" Garrett exclaimed. The arms and legs of the mannequin gave little shivers and slight movements. "Of course, I know what a Living Shield is. They are now very rare, but you see them from time to time in old dungeons. A couple hundred years ago it was a point of pride for monster tamers if they could bond with one." Wally gave a snort. "Best partners a squishy caster could ask for. They can watch your blind spots and intercept attacks just as well as the best warriors out there, but if someone tried to use one that hadn''t been tamed, they would find that the shield would avoid blocking things. As monster tamers become scarcer, they came to be called cursed shields. I''m surprised someone of your level has one to be honest." "You know what my level is?" Garrett asked. He worried that if the dwarf could see his level maybe he could see Garrett''s race as well. Wally knew what a living shield was so who knew what else the dwarf had knowledge of. "Well, not exactly." Wally said as he pulled out a small notebook and started writing about the interaction of the mannequin and the living shield. "After you interact with the amount of people I have in my life you develop a feeling for the power and general level of a person. It is especially helpful when making weapons and armor to know how much someone can handle you see." Garrett was relieved when Wally''s attention was piqued by April, now fused to the mannequin, as she slowly rose up to stand between them. Wally laughed hysterically as he continued to take down notes. "This is fantastic. This will advance my designs by leaps and bounds. Oh, I''m so glad that you found my little shop." Wally seemed more animated now than he had the entire time the group had been there. "I''m glad we could help." Garrett said. "Sorry about your assistant, armor, thing." He looked over at April and saw her slowly moving about to test her new body. "I don''t think she will let it go, so, how much do I owe you for it?" Garrett was hoping Wally wouldn''t ask to just keep her for research purposes. It might be hard to explain her ability to talk. "Owe?" Wally looked over confused as his attention was pulled away from the supreme curiosity that was April. "Don''t worry about it. You helped me figure out the last part of my work that I had given up on. In fact," Wally quickly shuffled over to the closet and after a moment of rummaging around pulled out a small, plain, wooden box. He went over to Garrett and handed it to him. "I want you to have this and go ahead and take one of the weapons off the wall to equip your living shield with." Wally waved to the wall by the forge. "I guess it is more of a living armor now I guess" He chuckled. "Thank you so much for all this but it is too much. We couldn''t accept it." Garrett said as he waved his hands in front of him. "Nonsense. Think of these as a payment. Besides the weapons are just my sub-par work that didn''t sell and are just going to waste here. Also open the box already." Garrett sighed in acceptance and opened the box. Inside he saw a bright orange chunk of metal with flecks of green, the size of an apple. "What is this?" "That is orichalcum. It is an ore that requires very specific materials and heating processes to refine it, so by itself it is not very useful. But I used to travel with a monster tamer back in the day that told me his living shield loved to chew on the stuff. Kind of like a wolf with a bone." Garrett looked to April and pictured here laying on the ground with this lump of metal held between her hands and trying to chew on it. It took a lot of effort not to burst out into laughter. By now April had gotten decent control over her body and she wandered over to the wall of weapons she heard Wally talk about and inspected it. It held a few swords, hammers, maces, even a couple of oversized axes, but her eye was drawn to a couple of long metal poles. She lifted them, one in each hand, and felt their weight settle comfortably into her hands. The seemed to be a little heavier near the far ends but over all seemed well made. Wally saw her interest in the two poles. "Those are just a couple of spare handles I made to add to some axes. Go ahead and take a finished weapon." April swung the metal handles down to her sides. A slight hum was heard before the handles were pulled with a clank to her legs and stuck there. She then walked around to stand behind Garrett. " I guess she has decided on those, if that is alright." Garrett asked. Wally sighed. "I don''t understand why but go ahead and take them. Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot of notes to review and a lot of work to do now that the old cogs are spinning." Wally turned and walked away to then start organizing the pile of stuff in the closet. Garrett, Blixie, and Kyle looked at each other, shrugged and walked out of Wally''s workshop. Chapter 28 The group decided to head east out of town and hunt down the horned rabbits for the quest they had accepted. They stopped to talk to the guards at the town''s east gate and get some information about the rabbits. Turns out the rabbit population was getting a little out of hand and the rabbits had started becoming a threat to local merchants and farmers that used the road through the forest to get to Lakefall. It took less than an hour to walk down the dirt road before they got to the forest that the rabbits inhabited. "I hope the rabbits aren''t too easy." Kyle said with a huff. "After easily taking down those goblins I''m feeling a little OP." "OP?" Blixie asked. "It means overpowered." Garrett responded. "Like a human stepping on an ant." Blixie burst into laughter. "A human...stepping...on an...ant." She wheezed out as the others looked at her. Blixie managed to get herself under control a bit before she explained. "Ants are bigger than humans in this world and are quite aggressive. Humans are more likely to be stepped on by the ant." "Man, it''s going to take a while before I am used to this world." Kyle said. "Well, thanks for letting us know Blixie. If we see an ant, we run." Garrett chuckled. They walked along the main road through the forest enjoying the scenery for a few minutes before they heard a rustle of leaves to their right. "Hold up." Garrett said as the group turned to look through the densely packed woods. "There." Garrett said quietly and pointed to a bush a few feet away. "I saw that bush move. There must be a rabbit in there." "We have to be careful." Blixie said. "Horned rabbits can be quite tricky. They are also very fast, but if you can avoid their charge then you should get a good chance to attack." "They are just rabbits." Kyle scoffed. "How bad could they be." A wet squelch sound was heard as a very sharp, shiny black spike sprouted from Garretts chest. Everyone spun towards Garrett with looks of confusion, as much as a blob of jelly and a metal helmet could show confusion at least, and saw the spike quickly withdraw and leave a hole in Garretts chest. "Ughhh!" Garrett wailed. "I have been stabbed." He wobbled a little and lifted his arms into the air as he fell to his knees. "What a cruel, yet beautiful world I was born into. I only regret not getting to see more." The group looked over Garrett passively. "Avenge me my friends. Let my death be a warning and a rallying cry to you all." Garrett slumped to the ground and twitched a few times. "This is why you were never chosen to play the lead role in school plays." Kyle quipped. "Are you sure you weren''t reborn as a pig, you big ham." April laughed. "Now is not the time to play around Garrett." Blixie huffed as a few grey rabbits hopped out of the brush to join the one standing behind Garrett. The horned rabbits looked like a standard rabbit except they were as big as a small dog and had a nearly two-foot, shiny black spike protruding from their forehead. The one that had stabbed Garrett sat on its haunches and stared at the group in confusion as dark, black blood slowly oozed down its horn. "I was just having some fun." Garret''s voice rang out as his body lifted itself from the ground. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "You should do that if we get attacked by bandits." April said cheerily. "Imagine their faces as the guy they just skewered, and thought was dead, just gets back up with a laugh. It''s wasted on animals that can''t understand it." A dull thump sounded as one of the rabbits collided with April''s leg and bounced off. The horn unable to pierce her durable armor. "I guess it is a good time to test out your new weapons April." Garrett said as another rabbit stabbed its horn through his leg before quickly retreating. "Yea." Kyle cheered "Let''s see if those lessons you were taking in our world transferred over." He said as he moved his body and flailed a couple tentacles through the air in pseudo kung-fu style. A rabbit passed through his body, spike first, and splashed some of Kyle''s goo onto April. The rabbit looked confused as it stood there covered in spots of slightly sizzling green goo before in squealed in pain from the acid in the slime slowly trying to dissolve it. Blixie flew higher to get out of the reach of the rabbits. "Why did I have to get the crazy group." She mumbled. April reached down and drew the two metal rods from her hips and spread her feet into a wide stance. A rabbit jumped straight at her, but she smoothly slid to the side and swung a rod straight down on the rabbit''s neck, killing it instantly. She spun and slammed the two rods down on another rabbit that had rushed up from behind. She laughed with glee when she stood up and jumped in place. "It feels amazing to be able to move on my own again." She twirled in place with the rods held out on either side of her, killing a few more rabbits that had jumped to stab her. "Looks like those escrima stick lessons worked out for you." Garrett said. He pulled out his staff that he had purchased and swung at a rabbit that approached from behind him. He hit the rabbit with the flat hammer like stone while the rabbit was in mid-jump. "Yea." April replied. "Although it seems I am faster and stronger than I was in our world." A green tentacle shot past her and speared a rabbit that had snuck up behind her. "Don''t go taking all the fun April." Kyle said with a chuckle. The group spent the next hour or so walking through the forest killing any horned rabbits they came across. Garrett would launch stone spikes or use his staff to either crush the rabbits or spear them. "This staff is more versatile than I thought it would be." He said. April flowed from strike to strike when she attacked. Interspersing punches, kicks, and strikes with her rods. "It is pretty cool looking. I wish I had a few more ways to attack myself. These rods are great but might be less effective against things with armor." Kyle flailed his tentacles, slamming or piercing rabbits with each strike. " Maybe when you level up a few times you will get something to help with that." Kyle told April. "I had to level up my Form Control skill a few levels before I could make my tentacles solid on the tips. So now I can make them pierce or slash my enemies." Kyle demonstrated by turning one of the tips of his tentacles into a spear and the other into a scythe. "That gives me an idea." April said. She focused on one of her rods. After a few seconds the flat tip slowly extended and sharpened until it resembled one of the spikes from a horned rabbit. April squealed in excitement. "My Ferrous Forming skill allows me to modify my rods. It''s not a lot yet but I am excited to see what I can do when the skill levels up." "That''s amazing April." Garrett said as he finished picking up the last of the rabbits they had killed and put it in his inventory. April looked at Garrett. "I''ve been meaning to ask Garrett, what are you doing with the rabbits?" "I''m putting them in my inventory so we can sell them later, since we don''t need to turn them in for the quest." "But don''t you need to absorb them or something?" April asked. "Like the stories from our world about dungeon cores absorbing new items and enemies to make them later." "Unfortunately, I can''t summon monsters for some reason, but I did absorb one, so I have its pattern for later if I ever get the ability to summon monsters." Gerrett responded. He heard a chime come from his Adventurers Guild card and pulled it out. Quest complete, showed across the face of the card. "I guess we can head back and turn in the quest now." "Let''s go see if they have a better quest." Kyle said. "I didn''t get that much experience from these things." "Sounds good." Garrett said, and the group started back towards Lakefall. Chapter 29 The group strolled through the forest on their way back toward Lakefall when April had a thought. "Hey Garrett, how are you going to explain the giant hole in your stomach and leg?" The group stopped and looked at the large black-red hole in Garretts shirt, where a horned rabbit had stabbed him earlier. "I forgot about that." Garrett replied. "Adventurers get hurt all the time on quests, but it would be hard to explain that away without us having someone with healing abilities in the group." Blixie said as she flew toward Garrett. She gagged when she got within a couple of feet of garret. "Ugh. I think that body is done for Garrett. The smell coming from that wound is horrendous." Garrett took a moment to really look over his borrowed body. "I guess you are right, but what else can I use. We haven''t run into anymore bandits that we could kill, and we need to go back to turn in the quest." "Why not just make a new body?" April suggested. "What do you mean make a new body? I don''t have that kind of ability." "Your imaginative dungeon master skills must have been left in our world." April laughed. "Just use your Earth Shaping skill to make a mannequin and your Unseen Force skill to stitch it together like you did with the skeleton you told us about. Garrett stood there flabbergasted while Kyle broke out in laughter. "I can''t believe I didn''t think of that." Kyle said. "Leave it to the low intelligence fighter to think of a creative solution." "Hey!" April huffed. "It''s not my fault no one else wanted to play the tank in our campaigns. Besides, intelligence is a dump stat for them anyways." Blixie just stared blankly at the two of them, unable to comprehend the meaning of their conversation. "Sometimes I think you are all talking a different language." She said. "Well, that would solve the body problem, but that still leaves the problem of turning in the quest." "What do you mean?" April asked. "The orc that gave us the quest knows what we look like. From his perspective it would be suspicious if someone else came in to claim the quest using my guild card." "True, but do we need to go back though?" April asked. "How else are we supposed to turn in the quest?" "Well, Blixie said there are guild branches in every town, right? So, we just follow the road and go to the next town and turn in the quest there." The demon face on her chest grinned. "Easy peasy." Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Well, I feel like an idiot now." Garrett groaned. "Alright, let''s move into the forest so we don''t draw attention." The group moved through the forest until the road was well out of sight before stopping. It took Garrett about an hour to use his Earth Shaping skill to collect the surrounding dirt and mold it into the different parts to make a semblance of a person roughly the same height as his current body. "What about the clothes?" Kyle commented. "People will wonder about the blood and the holes." Garrett thought for a bit then looked through the few things he still had in his inventory. "I forgot I had these." He said as a cloth sack dropped at his feet. He opened the bag and pulled out a few sets of men''s clothes that looked like they should be worn to a fancy ball than what one would wear to roam the forests. Most of the clothes were bright blues and reds with silver and gold accents. Only someone that wanted to flaunt their wealth would even consider wearing them. "Why didn''t you sell those earlier?" Kyle asked. "We could have gotten better armor." "I forgot about them." Garrett said. "They were part of the loot that we got from those bandits that had killed a merchant. Then we meet you, Kyle, and they slipped my mind." "They might stand out a bit more than what we would want though." April chimed in. "We wouldn''t want people to think that you are some kind or noble playing at being an adventurer and try to rob us." "Fair point." Garrett said as he continued to look through the bag. "But all I really need is a new shirt that doesn''t have a hole in it, and we could sell the rest at the next town." He pulled out a brilliant white tunic that had a few ruffles along the cuffs and neckline. "This is the plainest thing in here so it will have to do I guess." He spent a few minutes dressing up his new dirt mannequin and threaded his Unseen Force threads throughout it to tie it all together. After he had transferred all of his clothes, weapons and armor, and his coin pouch that contained his core to his new body, he absorbed the old body. Garrett looked over his new puppet with a critical eye. "Something doesn''t seem just right." He looked around until he saw what he wanted. He walked over to the base of a tree and found some wet dirt. He grabbed some of the dirt and rubbed it over the shirt. "Now the shirt is almost as dirty as the rest of the outfit." "Now that that is taken care of, let''s head to the next town." Kyle said as he headed back toward the road. The rest of the group followed him and headed off. Several hours later they could see the end of the forest. "This mannequin is a lot harder to control than the last body." Garrett commented. "It reminds me of the skeleton but a bit slower." The group had slowed down so Garrett could get used to the new puppet. "Just let me know if a foot falls off or something, okay?" "Luckly, you are pretending to be a monster tamer." Blixie replied. "No one will expect you to be fast or dexterous." The group continued down the road and discussed how the fight went and where they could improve. The sun set and rose again before the group finally saw the next town on the horizon. It was about half the size of Lakefall and was surrounded by farms with several well-worn roads extending from it in several directions. They could see a large mountain range on the far horizon, past the town, that must have been hundreds of miles wide. "Looks like a pass-through town." April said. "But at least they should have a guild office." "We should discuss what we want to see in this world." Kyle offered. "It could give some direction to head for." "Good idea." Garrett replied. "Let''s go turn in the quest, see what other quests they can offer us, and then we can get a room at the inn to discuss where to go from here." "I really miss not being able to eat." April sighed as the group headed off to the town. "I would love to have some fresh fruit from those farms." Chapter 30 The sun was high in the sky as the group arrived at the town. They noticed that there were no walls or gates around the town, just some low fences around the farms that they had passed. Although they saw a lot of people working the fields and farms around the town, very few people walked the roads inside the town. The road they were walking down was completely empty. "Seems a little too quiet around here." Kyle said. "This is actually pretty standard for a farm town." April replied. "Everyone is out in the fields or resting up from working out there since it looks like crops are coming in soon. It probably won''t be busy until afternoon or evening when people come in to eat, drink, or shop." "I forgot you lived in a rural area April." Garrett said. "Must have been quite different coming to the city in high school, huh?" "Seriously." April sighed. "I didn''t get a good night''s sleep for the first month because of the constant light and unending noise. At least the first group of people I met at the school were cool." "Really?" Kyle asked. "I thought we were the first people you met." Kyle chuckled "Ha ha." Garrett said sarcastically. "Let''s just find the guild and see what they have for us. Shall we?" They walked around for a while but couldn''t find the guild office. They had gone down several main roads and even some side streets. They found some homes and some shops selling clothes and bags, some selling basic jewelry made with local stones, and they even found a general store, but no guild office. They ended up going to one of the few taverns in this town. The sign above the door portrayed a cutesy carving of a cow with a crown of flowers on its head. "Welcome to the Cutesy Cow." The group heard a deep gruff voice call out. "Not many people coming in at this time of day." The large room contained about ten round tables, each with four chairs and a simple white vase holding a bouquet of wildflowers in the center. A long bar stood at the far end with a door behind it near one end. Behind the bar stood an orc even larger than the one they had meet at the guild in Lakefall. A multitude of scars ran across his large, bare, grey skinned chest and arms. An eyepatch covered one eye while the other, deep red colored eye gazed at them. His mouth locked in a sneer with one large tusk jutting from under his good eye, the other tusk was clearly broken off. The group stared at this large orc that would probably be more at home on a battlefield swinging a giant sword and maybe fighting Grandma Jenny, than being behind a bar. "So, what do you lot want?" He said in that deep rumbling voice as the group approached the counter. "We just came into town and were just looking for the adventurer''s guild office for this town." Garrett said. "Ah, then you''ve come to the right place." The orc huffed. "Our town isn''t big enough for its own branch, so we just have a representative that works out of here when the need arises. The name''s Gur''tok by the way." "I see, thanks Gur''tok." Garrett said a little sheepishly. "How soon could we talk to them? We have a quest to turn in and want to see if they have any others we could help out with." "Hey, Brellia!!!" Gur''tok shouted toward the door behind the counter. "Some adventurers are here to see you." "Give me a minute." Came a loud, irritated, yell in response. "She''ll be out in a moment." Gur''tok growled. "Anything I can help you with while you wait?" "Why is your tavern named the Cutsey Cow?" April asked. "That was my wife''s idea. She grew up on a farm and always felt a fond connection to the cows they raised." Gur''tok glared at the group as if challenging them to say anything rude. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop glaring at everyone. You''ll scare off our customers." A petite woman yelled out as she walked out of the door behind the counter, her long red hair swaying behind her. She was dressed in a simple white dress with blue diamonds along the hems. She fixed her bright blue eyes on the group and smiled as her long, pointed ears wiggled a bit. "Don''t mind my husband, he''s a kitten when you get to know him. He''s just terrible about showing his softer side to people." She turned to the orc that towered over her. "It''s a habit of his from growing up with orcs." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Gur''tok''s whole demeanor softened when he looked at his wife. "Honey, I have an image to maintain." He cooed. She lightly slapped him on the chest. "Just go get some drinks for them, would you? And let me do my job." Gur''tok walked away toward the door she had come from, and the group realized it must lead to the kitchen. The woman turned to the group, her hands on her hips. "I''m Brellia. I take it you are the adventurers that came to turn in the quest?" Garrett stepped forward and pulled out his guild card. "Yes. We came from Lakefall and wanted to turn in the horned rabbit extermination quest I took." He said and placed his card on the counter. Brellia reached under the counter and took out a statue of a cow sitting in a lotus position that looked to be made of the same crystal as the orb from the guild branch in Lakefall. She took the card and placed it at the mouth of the cow as if to feed it. To the group''s surprise the cow statue opened its mouth and swallowed the card. "I thought the guilds used orbs?" Garrett asked. Brellia chuckled lightly. "It is the crystal that is important not the shape. Most branches use orbs because it is easier to make. In the larger towns and cities, the crystals will wear out from how much they are used. I had mine made into a cow since I like cows, and we don''t get adventurers coming in very often." The blue box appeared above the statue that showed Garretts basic info and the list of his quests.
Name Garrett
Rank F
Quests Horned Rabbit Extermination
Brellia tapped her finger on the box that showed the quest, and a new window appeared.
Horned Rabbit Extermination
The horned rabbit population in the woods east of Lakefall has increased beyond safe levels. Cull the horned rabbit population by killing ten horned rabbits.
Rewards: 5 silver. 5 copper per additional rabbit.
Horned Rabbits culled: 23
Gur''tok returned with three mugs of ale and placed them on the counter. "Horned rabbits." He chuckled. "The orcs hunt those when we get our first spear at three years old." Blixie flew down and gave the ale a sniff before lifting the glass that was nearly half her size and drinking the ale. "Stop trying to show off." Brellia chided Gur''tok then turned back to Garret. "Great job going above and beyond on your quest." She grabbed a small crystal from a necklace hidden under her dress and tapped it on the blue box. COMPLETE, showed across the box and it disappeared. "The funds have been added to your guild card. Just take that to any bank and you can retrieve your money. Unfortunately, we don''t have that kind of coin laying around." "That''s fine." Garrett said since they don''t really need money for food or lodging. "Do you have any quests we can take?" "Only a few quests for helping around the fields on various farms since the harvest is about to come in but otherwise, no. Our little village is pretty remote for monsters or bandits to attack." She replied with a sigh. "There is a mining town by the foot of the mountain further east. I hear they are always asking for help with monsters in the mines, or down south there is a port town near the sea. You could try there since a lot of goods move through there. Merchants are always looking for bodyguards." "Thanks for the info. We will have to think about where we want to go." Garrett said as Brellia removed his card from the cow''s mouth and handed it back. The group said goodbye and left the tavern. "Well, they seemed nice." Brellia remarked. "But a little odd." "Yea, what kind of adventurer passes up on good ale?" Gur''tok said as he and Brellia looked down at the two full mugs of ale, then at the empty mug. "But that pixie sure could drink." He chuckled. "She was a pixie?" Brellia asked. "I thought she was a fairy." "Not a fairy. Based on how she was dressed and how she carried herself she was a pixie. My tribe would see some every so often." Gur''toks eyes glazed over as he reminisced of days long past. "Great fighting instructors." Gur''tok and Brellia lifted the two mugs and downed them in one gulp. "Well, we have got to get ready for the dinner rush coming up so get sweeping while I finish prepping in the kitchen." Brellia retreated through the door and back to the kitchen. "Yes, dear." Gur''tok said with a smile as he picked up a broom that was built for a much smaller person and started carefully sweeping the floor. Chapter 31 Outside the Cutesy Cow, Garrett, Kyle, April, and Blixie walked slowly down a random road to discuss their next destination. "The mountains or the sea?" Garrett asked. "The sea." April said cheerfully. "I''ve always liked the going to the sea more than the mountains." "Could you even swim if you fell in though?" Blixie asked. "Even if I can''t swim like this, it''s not like I need to breath." April huffed back. "I can just walk along the sea floor until I get back onto land." "That could take a very long time depending on if we needed to take a ship for a job." Garrett said. "Besides, if there is mining in the mountains you just know there are going to be dwarves." Kyle formed a thumbs up gesture with a tentacle, trying not to draw attention to them. "What do you think Blixie?" Garrett turned to look at the small pixie flying beside them. "You are my guide in this world after all." Blixie thought for a bit before responding. "I think the mountain town would be best for now. Other than the fact that I don''t think you or April could swim if you fell overboard, you only have Earth Shaping and Air Shaping. Both are pretty useless in a fight at sea with your current level in them. "Mining town it is then." Garrett said with glee. "Fine." April said reluctantly. "But we better get to go to sea at some point. I want to see some mermaids." "Sorry April, but most mermaids live in a city on the sea floor." Blixie chimed in. "Most likely you would see sirens which are feral monsters the lure sailors to their deaths." April seemed to deflate at that information and fell to the back of the group to sulk. "Since we don''t have anything else to do in this town, let''s head out." Garrett turned toward the east and lead the group out of town. It took the group a few days of nonstop walking to see the large stone walls that surrounded a small town near the base of the mountain that had been their focal point. The group didn''t chat much as they mostly focused on practicing some of their skills. April practiced changing the form of the large metal handles she received from Wally. Kyle practiced moving in odd ways to avoid imaginary attacks as well as extending the range and versatility of his tentacles. Garrett no longer had to keep a small pocket of air constantly circulating around him to keep the smell of decaying flesh from wafting off of him, and got to practice using it for other things which amounted to pretty much making small gusts push grasses and leaves away from him. "Why did I take Air Shaping?" Garrett moaned. "It''s practically useless for any kind of combat, unless I find myself fighting a pile of evil leaves." "You got it to support your dungeon that you were supposed to make." Blixie said. "No adventurer wants to walk through a dungeon with stale air. Plus, your monsters would have died without the air diffusing your mana." "Except I can''t make monsters, remember?" Garrett grumped. "I''m a failure of a dungeon that managed to die to the first adventurers that came through my dungeon." "Yea, but George brought you back." Kyle responded. "So, what if you can''t make monsters. We wouldn''t be travelling around together to see this really cool world if you could make them since the adventurers wouldn''t have killed you in the first place." If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "That''s true." Garrett admitted. "That floating dungeon was pretty cool." "Exactly. So less moping and more moving." Kyle said as he moved down the road and flung a small glob of himself into a bush on the side of the road and watched as it slunk back to him. The group walked for the next few hours in silence as more people from other roads could be seen converging on the small town at the base of the mountains. The walls loomed larger and larger until the group stood at a large iron gate hanging open in the massive walls that stood thirty feet tall. A few lookout towers were placed along the walls and several rows of arrow slits could be seen at regular intervals along the wall''s length. "Hurry along, hurry along." A booming voice washed over the group. "The gates close in about an hour." Garrett noticed the sun had just started to dip behind the hills behind them. "Glad we made it before the gates closed so we don''t have to stay out in the rain." Grey clouds have been slowly covering the sky throughout the last half of the day. "Seems like really tough security for such a small town." Garrett said. Several guards in intricately detailed full plate armor watched the gates. Some had halberds twice as tall as them while others had shields wider than them strapped to their backs. While the guards only stood about four feet tall, they were very stout, and all of them had intricately braided beards. These must be dwarves. Garrett thought. "Hold there, friends." Came a deep rumbling voice from a dwarf that carried a large hammer on his back. A couple of dwarves flanked him. "What brings such a... diverse group such as yourselves to our fine city." He said as he looked up at Garrett. Even though the dwarf''s head only reached Garretts chest, Garrett felt an overwhelming presence from him. "We heard that the adventurer''s guild here is always looking for people to help clear the mines." Garrett said with a bit of hesitation. "Can you tell us the way to the adventurer''s guild? This is the first time we are visiting your town." "Ah, new meat for the mines." The group of dwarves chuckled. "You''ll be wanting to head past the town and down the main tunnel. Adventurer''s guild is hard to miss." The lead dwarf said with an odd grin. "Thanks." Garrett replied, feeling a little uneasy at the dwarf''s smile. "Let''s go guys." The group walked through the gates and into the town. Several carts in front of the group turned down side roads where large wooden warehouses stood. "Probably markets and storage for the ore that is mined." April said. "Maybe supplies to go into the mines as well." They continued down the main road toward an opening in the mountain side. It was smaller than the main gate that sat in the wall that surrounded the town but was still big enough for several people to walk side by side through it. They passed several more roads that branched out into the town but seemed to only lead to people''s homes. They passed a small inn that was situated just before the tunnel entrance, but it seemed to only be as big as the one in Arenthia. "They must not need a lot of adventurers or maybe it is just not a very popular place to come to for quests." Garrett said. "Well, I for one wouldn''t want to be stuck down in a small dark tunnel fighting rats or bats day in and day out." April chimed in before remembering that that was exactly what Garrett was supposed to be doing as a dungeon core. "No offense to dungeons of course, but I remember seeing mining operations from our world." "Honestly I feel the same way. The dwarf said the guild branch was inside the tunnel though so maybe it won''t be quite like that." Garrett said trying to cheer her up. "Or it could be just a small shack with a rickety wooden plank for a counter placed on a couple of barrels." She shot back. Kyle slapped April and Garrett on the legs and shooed them toward the tunnel. "Squishy is right." Garrett chuckled. "We are already here so let''s go check in with them at least and see what they have for us." With a sigh April followed the others. As the group passed through the opening of the tunnel they noticed a gate, similar to the one on the outer wall, was pushed open into the tunnel. Several more dwarven guards lined the walls just past the gate. Large lanterns hung from the ceiling providing ample light for them to see by. After a few moments they came to the end of the short tunnel and stopped in surprise. In front of them stood a vast city carved into the very walls of an immense cavern. Homes and shops seemed to rise from the very stone itself and lined the streets that spiderwebbed across the city. Even looking along the walls and ceiling, lights could be seen from buildings. Elaborate statues towered over the various people that walked about. Dwarves, elves, and even people that had animal ears and tails wandered about. "I guess this explains the amount of protection outside." April said in wonder. "This is a dwarven city after all." Blixie said as she burst into laughter. "And you all thought it would be a small town." Chapter 32 They followed the main road through the town, passing shops of all sorts. Some people called out to the group to buy their weapons or armor, others called out to entice them with expensive looking clothing and jewelry. Blixie floated closer to a few carts that sold various grilled or baked foods. "Ahh, that smells delicious!" Blixie exclaimed as she flew closer to a stand selling grilled meats. "I know right?" April agreed as she walked closer to a stand that was selling loose gems and various raw ores. Kyle bubbled in frustration and Garrett just chuckled. "We need to be on the lookout for the adventurer''s guild guys, not looking for dinner." Blixie and April both sighed and turned away from the stands to follow after Garrett and Kyle. Garrett thought about it and realized that he was being selfish. What else are going to spend our money on right now? Garrett thought. "All right let''s get some treats for you guys." He walked over and talked to the jewelry stand first and handed over a handful of silver coins for a small chunk of copper ore. He then went and talked to the stand that Blixie had gone to and handed over a few copper coins and received two juicy looking ribs dripping with some kind of a dark sticky sauce. "Here you go." Garrett said as he tossed the copper ore to April, one of the ribs to Kyle, and handed the last rib to Blixie. "You will have to let me know how they are." Blixie picked up the rib that was almost as big as her and took a large bite. "Mmmmm." She groaned in delight. "That is amazing. It''s tangy with a kick of spicy." April grabbed the chunk of copper and placed it into the mouth on her stomach that had opened, revealing a void of inky darkness. "Chewy. Reminds me of caramel from home." She said quietly, so as not to draw attention. Garrett looked over to Kyle. "How is it Squishy?" The rib was slowly floating through Kyles gelatinous body. Small bubbles could be seen around the meat as it dissolved. Kyle flattened a bit and plopped two tentacles on the ground in a slumped motion. "Huh. Can''t taste it?" Garrett asked. Kyle shook his body. "That sucks buddy. We will figure something out later." They continued on their way down the main road looking for the adventurer''s guild. They turned right to follow the road and were surprised as the road ran straight into a huge stone building that was shaped like the stylized ''A'' that they recognized as the symbol for the adventurer''s guild. The building was massive, and easily stood almost fifty feet tall. The building seemed to have been carved directly from the wall of the cavern. "I think we found the guild." April said. They climbed the couple of stairs to a set of wooden double doors. Small panels were intricately carved with scenes of adventurers fighting different monsters, there was even a scene they recognized as Grandma Jenny fighting a dragon, but there were a few panels by the door handles that really stood out. These few panels were completely blank. Garrett pulled the door open to reveal a large tavern with dozens of tables taking up the large space between him and the bar at the far end. Only a few tables were not filled with the various races that he had seen on his walk through the city. The groups nearest the door hushed as they turned to scrutinize those that just entered before going back to their own conversations. The group headed through the tables and walked up to the bar where a large dwarf stood cleaning and putting away mugs. "If you want a room head to your left." The dwarf said and pointed to a small desk near a door at the side of the tavern. "If you are looking for quests head to your right." He pointed to a wall that was covered in small slips of paper organized by adventurer rank and a long desk where several clerks sat assigning quests and answering questions. "And if you need a drink or food, find a table." he finished.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Thanks." Garrett said hesitantly, put off a bit by the dwarf''s direct nature. He led the group to the right where the wall was practically covered in slips of paper. He walked up to one of the open clerks and got their attention. "Hi. This guild hall is completely different compared to the ones I have seen so far." Garrett said cheerfully. The clerk looked would have passed for human if you ignored the black cat ears sticking out of his short scruffy black hair, and the cat like nose perched on his slender angular face. "My, oh my." He said in a slightly husky voice. "It looks like we have a little country mouse come to play." A long sinuous black tail rose from behind him and flicked mischievously. He wore a dark blue shirt with a black vest and pants. "Well, we are one of the busiest guild halls in the country so naturally we have to be a bit larger than what you are probably use to." He looked at the rest of the group intrigued. "My name is Nyathanial. What can I do for you country mouse?" "Hi Nathanial. I''m Garrett. My group and I are looking for some quests to do to raise our adventurer rank. Can you help us choose some that would suite us?" "First off, it''s Nyathanial." The clerk said slightly irritated. "And of course I can help you. We have quests for every adventurer level. Let me just get your guild cards please." "Actually," Garrett said with a bit of hesitation. "I''m the only one that has a guild card. I''m a tamer and these are my beasts." He said as he pointed at Kyle and April. "And this is Blixie. She is sort of like a trainer or guide for me." Blixie puffed out her chest as Garrett pointed at her. Nyathanial looked at the group with a much more critical eye this time. "I see. You don''t see many tamers around anymore, much less ones with humanoid pets." He stuck out his hand. "Alright, let''s see your guild card then." Garrett handed his card over to Nythanial. "Just an ''F'' rank." Nyathanial said in surprise. "I figured you would be higher since you have two pets." He handed the guild card back to Garrett. "The only quests I can assign to you are on the far right of the wall." Garrett looked down the wall where the quests were hung and noticed the amount of quest slips became denser the farther down the wall he looked. "It''ll mostly be running errands or gathering herbs from outside the city for now, but if you work hard, you could raise your rank to ''E'' in just a few weeks." Nyathanial said with a smile. "Can I take on several quests at once?" Garrett asked. "Of course you can. in fact, it is recommended for lower-level quests. Otherwise, it would take a lot longer to raise in the ranks." "Is there a test I need to take to increase my rank like I did for joining? Maybe I could just take it now and move up to ''E'' rank." Garrett said hopefully. He always hated doing the fetch quests in games. "Only for rank ''C'' and above will you need to take a combat test for promotion. At the lower levels it is all about doing a required number of quests to raise in the ranks." Nyathanial responded. "It helps to show who is committed to the guild and builds up the required levels needed for more difficult quests. Just pick a few ''F'' rank quests from the board to start and bring them to me and I will add them to the quest log on your guild card." Nyathanial waved Garrett and his group away. The group headed down to the end where the most slips hug on the wall and looked over the quests that were available to them. Please gather ten green medicinal herbs. Gather five slate mushrooms. Rabbits have infested my fields, please help. My poor pet has run away, please help me find them. Rats in my basement. On and on the quests went asking for various things. Garrett looked at Kyle and April, but they just shrugged. "Guess it really doesn''t matter which ones we grab for now." He sighed and grabbed several at random and headed back to the counter. The group had to wait as a couple other groups had come up to register quests while they had looked for their own. "I see you have found some to start you off with." Nyathanial said as Garrett stepped up to the counter and handed the slips over with his guild card. Nythanial took the guild card and placed it in a slot in the wooden base that held a perfectly round crystal ball. As Garretts information floated above it he feed each quest slip in one by one. After he verified that all the quests were added correctly, he pulled Garretts guild card out and handed it back to him along with a folded piece of parchment. "Here is your card back and a basic map of the city and surrounding area so you can find where you will need to go for the quests." "Thank you, Nyathanial." Garrett made sure to emphasize the clerks name to make sure he had it right. "You very welcome Garrett and friends. Good luck out there." Nythanial smiled and waved the group off to help the next group in line. "I noticed that some of the ''E'' rank quests have you go into the actual mines, so let''s get these ones done as quickly as we can so we can raise our rank." Garrett said to the others. Garrett and the group left the guild hall in high spirits, excited to be on the path of adventuring once again. Chapter 33 "That was a long two weeks." Kyle groaned as the group closed the door to the room they had rented at the guild. "It wasn''t that bad." April responded. "None of the quests were hard." "Luckily we don''t really have to rest." Garrett added. "Besides, according to Nyathanial it usually takes about a month to raise to ''E'' rank." "I know, but some of those quests were just annoying. How was I supposed to know that the rats in that old lady''s house were her pets. She asked us to investigate some growling and then those rats tried to eat me." "I''m pretty sure they were just sniffing you." Blixie said. "Well, if something bigger than you got up in your face you would be scared too." Kyle shot back. Blixie just stared at him. "First, almost everything is bigger than I am. Second, you have a face?" Blixie giggled. "Ha ha." Kyle said sarcastically. "At least we can finally start taking quests for the dungeon and see what it is like to go through one." "Only the first and second floor though." Garrett said. "The quests for floors lower than that are higher ranked than we can take." "I always enjoyed crawling through the dungeons on our adventures." April said cheerfully. "It will be like old times." Blixie looked at April quizzically. "Wait, I''m confused. I thought you didn''t have magic in your old world, but you still had dungeons?" The others chuckled. "Not actual dungeons Blixie." April said. "How can I explain this. Do you have any games here in this world?" "Games? We have colosseums where people can pit their strength against others." Blixie replied. "I mean games of chance or strategy?" "Oh." Blixie perked up. "We have cards that are used for various forms of gambling, and I there is a game some royalty play called Conquest that is played using small figures that represent various military units. They move them across a board to simulate real world skirmish scenarios." "Great." April said cheerfully. "So, we had games similar to Conquest except that there were several people playing together in a team, called players, with only one playing piece each. They would play against one person, called the game master or dungeon master depending on the game, that would have several pieces. The game master would lay out scenarios that the players would then have to work through, which would sometimes include mock dungeons." Blixie''s eyes lit up in fascination. "That sounds amazing." She then sat in the air with her chin in her hand. "I wonder if we could bring that idea to the higher ups in the guild to help train up the lower ranked members. I bet they would pay a lot for that." Her eyes glittered with greed. "We would be rich." She exclaimed. "But if we do that, then wouldn''t the dungeons lose out on the experience needed to grow?" Kyle asked. "Unlike most races, dungeons are practically immortal as long as their core remains intact, so if it takes a few more years or even decades to upgrade, the dungeons won''t care." Blixie replied in her teacher voice. "On the flip side it would allow the adventurers to grow and become stronger so when they do eventually die in a dungeon, they would provide more experience which might even allow for roughly the same amount of experience in the long run." "It sounds like a good deal for both sides." Garrett said. "But I don''t think any of the guild''s leaders would listen to a fresh band of rank ''E'' adventurers so it will have to wait. We will head down to see what quests are available to us and then head into the dungeon in the morning." The group sat down and practiced their skills. They had been doing this for the last couple of weeks during the nights they stayed in the guild hall after handing in quests. Though the progress on raising their skills levels had slowed to a crawl. Nyathanial had been very surprised to see they had completed the required number of quests to rank up in only two weeks. The light on a crystal that stood on the nightstand beside the bed steadily drained, like sands in an hourglass, as the night drew on. Blixie had explained that the solar crystal as they were called, helped people keep track of time when underground or when the sun was not visible for extended periods. The crystals light crept up the crystal as morning arrived. The group headed down to check out the quests when the figured it was about eight o''crystal.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Good morning!" Nyathanial called out to them as they approached. "Getting an early start today since you can finally enter the dungeon?" He asked with enthusiasm. "Yup." Garrett replied. "I can''t wait to go on my first dungeon run. What would be some good quests to take for a first time?" "Well," Nyathanial paused to think. "There is always a need for ore mined from the dungeon if you have the skill for it, and before you ask, no you can''t just move the dirt around it with earth shaping skills." "Do earth shaping skills not work in dungeons?" Garrett asked worried that his main means of attacking would be cut off. "They do, it''s just that the dirt around ore veins behaves rather oddly with earth magic but no one has been able to figure out why." Nyathanial shrugged. "Best guess is that the gods didn''t want it to be too easy for us to get the ore. The clerics say that the gods make dungeons to challenge mortals and help us grow in proportion to our efforts." "Why do people say it is the gods that create the dungeons?" Garrett asked. Nyathanial just stared blankly at him. "You''re joking right? Didn''t your mother teach you about the gods and dungeons, yet you still chose to be an adventurer?" "You''ll have to forgive him." Blixie jumped in. "He''s been suffering from amnesia since I found him in the woods a few months ago. He could barely remember his name." She sighed. "I was surprised he hadn''t been eaten by wolves to be honest with you." Nyathanial''s face softened in empathy. "Poor dear." He said. "Well, the dungeons are usually themed or feel inspired by a certain god. Like our local dungeon you''ll get to go explore today is inspired by Gra''tok''ta. The dwarven god of smithing and the earth. There are veins of different ores on the various levels with the rarer ores being deeper down and sparser than the common ores on the first couple of floors. Besides that, the monsters you will encounter are versions of creatures you would typically find underground, including moles and badgers and such." "Well thanks for the explanation. Since my earth shaping skills would be useless for that and I don''t think squishy would fare any better, what other quests are there." Garrett asked with renewed interest. "There are quests to protect miners that don''t have combat-oriented skills and a few quests to acquire various items dropped by the monsters inside." Nyathanial replied. "Just bring over the ones that sound interesting to you." He said as he waived them down the wall of quest postings. After perusing the available quests Garrett decided on a few that he figured they could accomplish and get a good feel for how going through a dungeon is in this world. One was a posting that asked for several mole steaks for a local butcher and one that asked for mole whiskers and claws for an alchemist. He figured that finishing two quests with one mole was a good deal. He found one that asked for pieces of ant carapace for a local armorer and finally one quest that asked for certain mushrooms for a local grocer. Garrett took the quests over to Nyathanial to load on to his guild card and asked for directions to the dungeon entrance. Nyathanial told them to take a right as they exited the guild and follow the street until they got there. The group followed Nyathanial''s directions and after about ten minutes of following the side street they came upon a rather small plaza along the wall of the cavern that several other roads converged into. Two guards that resembled the guards that guarded the main entrance into the city flanked an opening that was not much bigger than the doors to the guild hall. A long line of adventurers stood outside the opening chatting amongst themselves. There were several adventurers that Garrett recognized from the guild hall as well as some adventurers he had not seen before. "Hey Garrett." a voice called out. Garrett looked toward the back of the line and saw a large bearded human waving at him, so the group approached. "Hi Ven." Garrett replied. "What are you after today." Ven was a rank ''C'' barbarian that the group had befriended from the guild. "I''m going after cave spiders on level 4 today." Ven said nonchalantly. "Figured I would take it easy today since my group had other plans. You finally get to go in the dungeon?" He asked. "Yup." Ven laughed heartily and slapped Garrett on the back causing Garrett to a stumble forward a little. "Glad to see it lad. Take it slow at first and you won''t have to worry too much." "Thanks Ven." Garrett said as he limped a little, pretending that the slap had hurt. "There are a lot of people I don''t recognize here." Garrett said as he looked around. Did they just come in for the dungeon?" Ven laughed loudly again. "No, no. They are from the other guild halls around the city. I know you just got here a couple of weeks ago, but did you think that there would only be one guild hall in a city this size?" "Honestly I did." Garrett replied. "How many are there in the city?" "There are five guild halls throughout the city." Ven explained. "Each one supports different parts of the city, ensuring that all residents can be assisted." Garrett thought through the quests they had taken the past couple of weeks. "That makes sense. I was kind of wondering why the quests we could take were mostly around the entrance of the city or outside of it." "Yea. The guild hall we stay at is used mostly by traveling adventurers, but the others are used by those that have made a living here in the city." The line of adventurers had been moving rather quickly and soon it was Ven''s turn to enter the dungeon. "Well, good luck Garrett. See you back at the hall. First round of drinks is on me to celebrate your first dungeon dive, or in memory of it if you die." He laughed as the guards waved him through the entrance. Garrett looked at the others. "Alright guys. Let''s enjoy our first dungeon crawl here." April clapped her hands together while Kyle waved his tentacles in the air. "You all are way too excited for this." Blixie chuckled. The guards waved Garretts group through. Chapter 34 The group walked down a tunnel large enough for two people to walk side by side and a few feet taller than April was. The walls looked like they had been chiseled away with picks or shovels. The tap tapping of picks carving away at the walls could be faintly heard but didn''t get any louder as the group walked for several minutes. "Looks like even dungeons like good background music." Kyle laughed at his own joke. "Kyle, you still shouldn''t talk in here." Garrett whispered. "Your voice might echo, and it would be hard to explain a talking slime to people." "Don''t worry." Blixie chimed in. "This dungeon has a skill that allows for each group that enters to have their own little pocket dimension to explore." "How do you know?" Garrett asked. "Why else would the guards let an adventuring party enter after only a few minutes of the previous party entering." She replied as if this should be common knowledge. "Do you think the dungeon monsters would instantly reform after a party left a room?" Garrett thought about this for a minute. "Kind of like the old online games we used to play. That makes sense. Would I have gotten a skill like that if I had built a dungeon?" "In time maybe." Blixie shrugged. "Depends on what skills you would have chosen as you leveled up, but I believe you would have had to get up to at least level ten before it even became an option. Based on how many groups entered before us I would say this is a pretty old and high-level dungeon." After a few more minutes of walking the tunnel opened into a rather long cave about fifty feet in length and about half that in width. Stalagmites dotted the floor with some even connecting to the numerous stalactites the hung from the ceiling twenty feet above them. A few glints from the walls caught Garret''s eye. He walked over and saw small veins of copper running along the wall. He decided to try his Earth Shaping skill on the wall to verify what Nyathanial had told him, but his mana just bounced off of it. "Looks like Nyathanial was right. I can''t use my Earth Shaping to affect this wall at all." Garrett told the group. "Did you think he would have lied to us?" Blixie looked at Garrett like he was an idiot. "Getting anything out of a dungeon shouldn''t be easy." Tink. Tink. Tink. Garrett looked to his right and saw that April had morphed one of the steel rods she had on her into a pick and was smacking it into the wall where the copper vein was. "What are you doing?" He asked her. "Getting more delicious copper." April said excitedly." Scritch, Scritch. Kyle heard a small scratching sound coming from behind them as he stood away from April and her mining. "Hey guys," He called out. "Looks like we might have company coming." He turned around and formed two tentacles, ready to attack. The group turned to look at Kyle and saw the wall across from them form a small bulge before a small molelike creature emerged, looked at them from behind the small, rimmed glasses on its snout, and then stood up on its hind legs. The mole like creature looked like someone had taken the head of a star nosed mole and placed it on stocky humanish body. It dusted off the green vest and brown pants it was wearing before adjusting its glasses with large dagger sized claws acting as fingers. Kyle looked back at the group confused. "Um, should I attack it?" "What do you think you are doing here." Came a slightly high-pitched yet refined voice. "If you have come to invade our dungeon, I assure you we will not be as easy to take down as you think." Garrett looked at Blixie. "Is this how all the first encounters in dungeons go?" He asked her.Stolen story; please report. "No Garrett, this is not a standard first encounter." She replied as she landed a few feet in front of the group. "Hello sir gnome." Blixie said respectfully as she bowed toward the mole. "I''m sorry if we have given you the wrong impression but we have come to see how a real dungeon should look?" The mole looked skeptically at Blixie. "Any dungeon that could create an avatar that can survive outside its walls would be high enough level to be considered a ''real dungeon''. So why have you really come?" More scratching noises could be heard from the walls around them. "That doesn''t look like any gnome I''ve ever seen." Kyle whispered to Garrett. Blixie looked back at him. "He is an earth spirit called a gnome, and he is the dungeon guide of this dungeon." She turned back to the gnome. "Garrett here has a unique situation. He received the ability to make an avatar really early on, but his actual dungeon is very small. He also wasn''t born with the instinctive knowledge of other dungeons. So, growing his dungeon into a proper one is very difficult, but I figured if I could take him through a proper dungeon like yours then maybe he would understand how to become a great dungeon." The gnome glared at the group with suspicion but after a minute he nodded. "The dungeon is intrigued with your story and says that you may continue through but be warned that it is not going to treat you any differently that other adventurers." The scratching noises around them receded into silence as the gnome turned back to the wall and burrowed away. "That could have gone worse." Blixie sighed in relief and turned back to the group. "Who''s ready to explore?" *********************************************************************************** "How is this treating us the same as other adventurers?" Kyle growled as he clubbed an ant, that was about the same size as him, to death with his tentacles. "I swear we have fought about a hundred ants in just the last hour." After the gnome had left, the group continued and had found a series of branching tunnels with small rooms interspersed along the way. Every room they came upon was bare of any type of decorations except for the occasional vein of metal. They had to fight a group of five to ten ants in each room they passed through with some ants crawling out of the walls into the tunnels as well. "I feel like it hasn''t been that bad." Garrett replied as he launched a spear of condensed stone into an ant that had approached Kyle from behind. "They aren''t very strong, are they?" April said as she whacked an ant with her metal stick as a couple of other ants chewed on her legs, their mandibles not even leaving a scratch. "True." Kyle said as he killed another two ants. "But there are just too many of them. Besides, we haven''t even seen a mole or those mushrooms we are supposed to collect." "But we have gotten the carapace required for one of the quests." Garrett said as he reached down to where a slain ant had dissolved into a cloud of yellow lights and picked up the small, palm sized piece of red carapace left behind before putting it into his bag. "We should be coming up the stairs to the next floor soon." Blixie said. "The mana is getting a bit denser." They exited the room they had been fighting in and walked down a short, curved hallway before they found a carved set of stairs leading down into the darkness below, the occasional torch mounted into the wall creating pools of light. "Nyathaniel told us that adventurers of our rank shouldn''t go past the second level, so the moles and mushrooms should just be on the next level." Garret said as he stepped forward to go down the stairs.
You have completed the first floor. Would you like to continue to the second floor or exit the dungeon?
Continue Exit
Blixie laughed as Garrett was startled by the message and he fell backwards. "Does this dungeon have teleportation?" Garrett asked. "Looks like it." Blixie said. "Once a dungeon gets strong enough and has enough floors the option will open up as a choice." "Does that mean there could be teleportation traps?" Garrett said with hope in his voice. "The teleportation skill of dungeons only allows you to let adventurers skip to floors where they have previously defeated the floor boss or to quickly leave the dungeon." "Oh," Garrett said sadly. "Those traps would have been really interesting." Garrett stood back up and headed for the stairs again. "Everybody ready to head to the second floor?" "Hopefully those moles are more of a challenge." Kyle said. "Maybe we will finally level up again." April cheered. "Alright guys, let''s go have some fun." Garrett selected continue and the screen disappeared with a pop as he and the group headed down to the next floor. Chapter 35 The group descended the stairs for several minutes before coming out into another roughhewn cavern, the same smokeless torches mounted along the walls. This cavern seemed the same as the others they had passed through except for the sporadic roots they could see poking out of the walls and the lichen covering some of the rocks. "What kind of plant could have roots this far under a mountain?" Kyle asked. Blixie just giggled. "Those are just made by the dungeon to help the looks of the dungeon and to give the monsters down here something to chew on." she explained as she flew over to one of the smallest roots she could find and pulled it straight out of the wall. The hole where the root came out of was only about an inch deep and the root had no signs of tearing on the end. "See?" "So, the dungeon monsters need to eat?" Garrett asked. "I''ll have to think about how that will work if I ever start a dungeon of my own again." "No, they don''t." Blixie replied. "It just gives them something to do so they don''t get bored. Like a dog chewing on a stick." "I guess that is why we didn''t see any quests for these roots then." "I found some!" April cheered as she hurried over to the wall of the cave. She reached for a couple of brown mushrooms when a dull clang rang out. The others looked over and saw some large claws had poked out of the wall and slammed into April''s chest. A small snout could be seen poking out of the wall beside the arm attached to the claws. April grabbed the arm and pulled, using the knowledge from her past Judo classes, and out popped a large mole that would come up to April''s knees if it was standing beside her. She twisted and slammed the mole on the ground before quickly drawing a kali stick and caving its head in. "Are you okay?" Garrett called out to April. "Just a few dents." She said and with a couple of small popping noises the small dents where the claws had hit fixed themselves. "I''m just glad it was me it attacked. It probably would have gone straight through you Garrett." She said with a chuckle. A squeal of pain came from underneath Kyle as a large paw could be seen jutting up from the floor and into his gelatinous body, just missing his core. Kyle''s body rippled as he pulled the unfortunate mole out of the ground and fully into himself to drown it in a matter of seconds. "Are these supposed to be tougher than the ants?" He asked as the mole quickly dissolved due to his acidic slime. "Kyle," Garrett called out. "We need to get parts off of those moles for the quests. Don''t just eat them." "Oops." Kyle chuckled and spat out a small claw. "Didn''t mean to do that." The group waited a couple of minutes to see if any other moles would appear but were disappointed. "The moles should be a little bit tougher than the ants since they won''t attack in groups and can appear from anywhere, but they seem to be a bad match for you guys in general." Blixie said. "How do you mean Blixie?" April said as she grabbed some other mushrooms she had seen. "Well, April is just a walking suit of armor so there are no squishy bits to damage. While Kyle is all squishy bits, but no vital points except for your core that is randomly floating about." Blixie explained in here best teacher voice. "They have a decent chance of hurting Garretts body but since it is just made of dirt and stone, he could easily just make a new one." "I see your point." April said. "So, this should be a pretty easy dive for us is what you''re saying." "Don''t get overconfident now." Blixie warned. "That is the downfall of many adventurers."Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "We will be careful Blixie." Garrett said as he waved the group down the tunnel leading further into the dungeon. They had gone through several more rooms quickly dispatching moles with well-placed strikes from April''s Kali sticks or Kyle slamming and slicing them with his tentacles. Garrett even got a few shots in with some stone spears he flung at the moles. "Looks like another dead end." April said as they entered the latest room. "At least there are some more mushrooms." She walked over and reached for the patch of mushrooms on the far wall. "Pull." Kyle called out. April quickly swiveled her body to the left, narrowly avoiding the claw that shot out at her chest. She grabbed the arm and pulled the mole out and tossed it into the air where a spear of rock buried itself into the mole''s chest killing it. "That new Tremor Sense ability of yours is pretty handy." Garrett said to Kyle. "Thanks." Kyle replied. April grabbed the mushrooms off the wall. "That''s the last of the mushrooms we need for the quest." She said as she turned to see the mole dissolve into motes of light, a small claw left behind. "And there is the last of the claws we needed as well." Garrett picked up the claw and put it into his inventory space where the other quest items sat. "I think it''s kind of weird that we haven''t seen any treasure chests yet." Garrett sighed. "I didn''t really think about it but why haven''t we run into any treasure chests yet?" Kyle chimed in. "Why do you think there would be any treasure chests this high up in the dungeon?" Blixie asked. "This is a dungeon of the smithing god. I would have thought we would have found at least one chest with a dagger or helmet or something." Garrett told Blixie. She laughed. "Gra''tok''ta is the god of smithing, not the god of giving out stuff for zero effort. Dungeons typically provide the raw materials to make things. I have only heard of weapons or armor being made by very old, very powerful dungeons, and even then, they would only rarely drop them as loot in their deepest, deadliest floors. Otherwise, what is the point of being a blacksmith or alchemist if the dungeons just provided everything. The group thought about it for a bit. "I guess that makes sense." Garrett said. "It would probably throw commerce for a loop if people where just pulling out swords or potions from the dungeons on a regular basis." "Let''s head back to that last tunnel and hope it leads to the boss so we can finish up this dungeon run and turn in these quests." Garrett said. "I need to pick up some more iron ore when we get out. I need to use some every time I fix my armor, and I am running low." April said. "I''m also starting to run low on mana." Garrett said. "It is really hard to pull in the mana here for some reason." "That''s because we are in a dungeon." Blixie explained. "Unless the dungeon willing gives you mana it''s practically impossible to absorb." "Then why does the dungeon need to permeate its area with mana?" "Like I explained before, suffusing mana throughout the area lets the dungeon grow its influence and the stronger the dungeon monsters are the more mana is required for them to survive." "Just like people need air to survive. If there is not enough then they die." Kyle said. "Exactly. Glad someone can understand. Just think of mana like air for dungeon monsters since even the weakest ones can''t survive for long outside their dungeon." "I get it. I am idiot when it comes to being a dungeon but at least I have a great teacher to help me with that." Garrett said sarcastically as the group headed back the way they had come and went down the other fork of the tunnel. "I just hope that I can level up after this boss fight. I am still level two for some reason." He complained. "As this great teacher of yours told you in the beginning, you need to kill enemies that are in your influence." Blixie remarked. "And you have only been killing things at range with those stone spikes of yours." Kyle burst into laughter while April chuckled a bit. "I can''t believe you haven''t leveled since I have been with you." Kyle said between breaths. "I''ve gained at least two levels since then." Garrett looked at April. "I have gained a couple of levels as well." She said. "Fine, then I want to get in melee with the boss." Garrett said in frustration. "I''m going to kill it and level up." The group entered a large circular room with several boulders lining the walls and some smaller stones scattered throughout the room. "Is that a giant armadillo?" April asked aloud. "What''s an armadillo?" Blixie asked as the group saw what looked like a giant mole covered in segmented armor made from stone. It reminded Garrett of a large version of the pangolin they had seen before except that it was twice as big as the moles they had been fighting. The long claws glinted dully as if made from some kind of metal. "That is a dire mole." Blixie told them. "They are a lot stronger than the moles you have fought so far, and this one looks bigger than the ones I was taught about." "Still want to stab it with your stick?" Kyle chuckled. chapter 36 The large rock covered mole charged at the group as soon as they had entered the room. Garrett, Blixie, and Kyle managed to leap out of the way avoiding getting hit but April felt a tug at her foot as she went to move that made her fall. The mole crashed through her leg disconnecting it as the mole continued to barrel past. The ground shook from the momentum of the heavy mole colliding with the wall. The group looked back to where April''s foot was still held in the jaws of the large ant that had burrowed up from the ground. "Are you okay April?" Garrett called out. "I''m fine but I might be a bit slower unless I can get my leg back." Aprill called out as she slowly stood up, wobbly standing on one foot. "Hey guys," Kyle called out as a pair of pincers pushed their way through the ground beneath him and up into his gelatinous body. "There are about four more ants moving through the ground, but I can''t keep track of them all at once, so keep an eye out." The pincers retreated underground as holes formed on them from Kyle''s acid. The large mole pulled itself free from the wall and turned toward April and charged again. April rolled to her left avoiding the mole and swung a Kali stick at the creature. A dull clang rang out as the rock armor absorbed the impact. The mole skidded to a stop using its large claws to dig into the ground and quickly turn for another attack, but a chunk of rock smacked into its head with a dull thud but didn''t cause any real damage. "Get your leg back while I distract it." Garrett yelled. "Kyle, take care of the ants since you can sense them." "You got it." Kyle said as the last little bit of his body disappeared down the hole the ant that had attacked him retreated down. Garrett threw several more rock spears at the mole, but it lowered its head between its front paws. This is like throwing smalls rocks at a boulder. Garrett thought. He did notice that his attacks were slowly chipping away at the armor of the mole. Garrett looked over and saw April change the rod in her hand into a small spear and stab the ant that still held her unconnected foot in its vicelike grip, killing it before she took her leg and reconnected it to herself. "Much better." She said as she moved the leg around to make sure it was connected well. "I could use some help over here." Garrett called out. The mole had slowly been moving forward enduring the rocks that were hurled at it from Garrett. As soon as the giant mole was less twenty feet away it uncoiled and launched itself at Garrett. In two bounds the mole was hurtling toward Garrett, its large metal claws extend in front of itself like a giant spearhead. The claws tore through Garretts midsection and burst out the back. A quick flick of the moles paw sent the top of Garretts body up and over the mole while his legs were trampled as the mole continued its charge.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "Garrett!!!" April cried out. She crossed her two Kali sticks to form an X and focused, causing one of them to flow around the other and reshape itself. A moment later she held a large Warhammer in her hands as she charged at the side of the mole. "AHHHHHH!!!!" She yelled as the head of her hammer screamed through the air and slammed into the moles side with enough force to push it up on its two right feet. April used the rebounding momentum of he hit and spun herself around, dropping low, and in mid-swing shifted her weapon into a long staff and swept the moles feet from the other direction causing the mole to roll onto its back. Before April could bring her weapon around to finish off the mole a small legless creature jumped from behind her and landed on the moles unprotected belly. The torso of Garrett landed with a thump and slammed the pointy end of his hammer staff into the neck of the mole. Blood sprayed as he slammed again and again until the mole stopped moving. Garrett spun around to a stunned looking April. "I better get a level out of this." He said annoyed. As the body of the mole slowly dispersed into light Garrett kindly asked April to grab his legs from nearby. "Well, ants are done." Kyle said as he oozed out of several holes in the floor and flowed back into one blob. "You guys done up here?" He said as he looked over at the other two. He saw April picking up Garretts legs and then saw Garrett was just a torso on the ground with his arms folded in front of him. "Well, you don''t have to be so short with me." He snickered. "Haha." Garrett said sarcastically as April handed him his lower half and he used a few threads of Unseen Force to stitch himself back together. "I''m just glad I''m not using a flesh and blood body anymore. That would have been messy." He moved around to test that the new strands would hold how he wanted, then made a few slight adjustments. "How are normal people supposed to beat this dungeon on a regular basis if the boss was that hard." He asked his companions. "Groups that would even attempt a boss of this difficulty at your level would have a group of at least five people, with one usually being a healer of some sort." The group heard Blixie reply as she flew down from the ceiling. "One member would hold the boss''s attention and soak up the damage while the rest dealt damage." "Why didn''t you help us out." Kyle asked with a bit of annoyance in his voice. "Were you worried you would break a nail or were you just enjoying the show." "As a dungeon guide, I can''t get directly involved in the fights of my dungeon. I can analyze and offer advice to enhance efficiency." Blixie replied in a calm voice. "I would say you all did really well, considering there were only three of you. But I would have expected you to figure out the mole''s weak points a little earlier." "Any other advice?" Garrett said in annoyance. "Yes." Blixie said with a smile. "Don''t stand in front of a charging dire mole." she said with a chuckle. Garrett grumble and picked up the loot dropped by the boss while the others just laughed. The group then headed toward the exit and received the same message had at the last set of stairs. Since guild rules stated they could only go to the second floor and Garrett was feeling a little angry and embarrassed they decided to choose the option of leaving the dungeon. Chapter 37 With a colorful swirl the group appeared at the back of a small circular cavern that was only about ten feet in diameter. A dwarf stood by the only exit of the cavern. "Quickly move along before the next group shows up." The dwarf said loudly when Garrett and his group didn''t move fast enough for his liking. "We don''t want any mishaps like last month." The group quickly moved out of the cavern and were greeted by a view of a large building with several symbols of gods carved upon its facade. An elf quickly stepped toward them. "If you need healing, we have plenty of clerics on hand at the temple of all gods. The best healing for the best prices." He said in a professional tone. "We''re good. Thanks." Garrett said quickly and moved away toward what was a market set down the road from the exit. The dungeon''s exit was only a few streets away from the adventurer''s guild and the market had been setup to buy the various items adventurers found in the dungeon or sell items to restock before the adventurers dove through the dungeon again. "Let''s get to the guild and drop of these quests really quick and then we can see if there are any other quests we can do before the day is out." "I need to pick up some more ore to help repair my armor in future dives." April said. Kyle waived his tentacles and pointed to himself as if to ask if they could find something for him as well. "Thats fine." Garrett replied. "But I don''t know if we can find anything for you Ky-ugh Squishy. I''ve never seen slimes use anything like equipment before." Kyle formed the top of his blob into a rough facsimile of a classic wizard''s hat. "A hat could work." Garrett nodded. "At least you would be fashionable." "And finally, not naked." Blixie chuckled. Kyle put his tentacles on, what would be, his hips in a slime''s version of a huff. Garrett and April chuckled. The group wandered from stall to stall to see if there was anything they could use. They found a few chunks of low-grade ore that April could use, and even a classic pointy black wizard hat that they bought for Kyle, though the hat slowly melted as they wandered the rest of the market. They made it back to the guild as the last of the hat dissolved into the depths of Kyle''s body. "I guess that''s why slimes don''t use equipment. Sorry buddy." Garrett said to Kyle. "Maybe if we ever find some clothes specifically made to withstand acid, we can try again." "Or there might be a skill that would let you change the color and texture of your slime." Blixie said, trying to cheer Kyle up. "Kind of like a kraken, but I was only trained on the skills of dungeons. Sorry." Kyle slumped a little and waved his tentacle in a ''don''t worry about it'' sort of gesture. "Let''s get these quests turned in and then we can check our stats to see what skill gains we got out of that dive." Garrett said. The group turned in the quests and went up to their room to wait for the next day of quests to avoid suspicions. ****************************************************************************************************** "How am I still level two?!" Garrett groaned. "We even made sure that I got the killing blow on that mole."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "That''s pretty weird." Kyle said while he walked around looking like a child''s drawing of a cat. April just merrily muched on her iron ore. "Maybe it just wasn''t enough to push you over in experience. When was the last time you killed something up close?" "Since the bandits I rescued you from maybe? or the goblins? I''m not sure." Garrett said in frustration. "But the experience on my status window hasn''t even changed since we went into the dungeon. I don''t even think it changed when I killed the bandits now that I think about it. have you heard of anything like this Blixie?" "I don''t think so." Blixie responded as she sat in the air, her wings fluttering quickly behind her. "I can ask one of my old mentors from the academy if you want." "How long would that take?" "I will have to leave for a bit, but I should have the answer by the morning." Blixie said with a smile. "I would appreciate that, Blixie. I don''t want to be wandering the world cursed to never again gain a level or new skills." Garrett said with a sigh. "To be fair, Garrett, you are probably the strongest person at your level since you really don''t need to worry about getting hurt." "I guess so, but getting to figure out how to use new abilities was so fun." "I know. Anyway, I should get going. You guys rest up and I will be back in the morning." Blixie quickly flew through the window and out into the city. "I wonder how far she will have to go?" April said still popping small nuggets of ore into the giant mouth on her stomach. "Hopefully not back into the dungeon." ************************************************************************************************* Blixie quickly flew through the glittering lights of the dwarven city. She whizzed past cats laying on roofs and wove through chimneys. "Ah, it feels so nice to just go for a nighttime flight by yourself sometimes." She said to herself. She watched the people that still wondered around even at this late hour. "I guess when you live underground, the time of day doesn''t really matter." She observed. Soon enough she had zipped through the short entrance tunnel and out into the night sky. Free from the confines of the mountain she inhaled deeply savoring the cool night air. "Right, time to figure out this problem." She looked around and quickly found what she needed. A puddle from a rainstorm earlier that day had formed behind a house near the edge of the town. The puddle was large enough that if she laid down in it, she wouldn''t be able to touch both sides at once. She landed and walked around the outside of the puddle until she could see a complete reflection of one of the moons overhead. "Perfect" She closed her eyes and started to hum. Softly at first, followed by lightly swaying from side to side. She slowly increased the volume of her humming, and her swaying flowed into a series of moves that made her look as if she was fighting invisible enemies. Jabs and kicks flowed smoothly into leaps and ducks. The moonlight reflected in the puddle slowly grew brighter as small symbols formed and swirled through the water. After half an hour Blixie slowed her movements and came to a stop. Sweat glistened on her form, reflecting the light shining from the puddle. "I wish there was an easier way to do this." She huffed. She pulled the small dagger from her belt and watched as the light shone brighter and brighter. The symbols swirled and coalesced into the center of the moon''s reflection. She drew the dagger across her palm and held her hand over the symbols. A few drops of her blood splashed into the water and mixed with the swirling symbols. The symbols swirled faster and faster blurring into a solid ring that started at the center of the moons reflection and slowly expanded, stopping at the edges of the moon. The reflection of the moon was now an inky darkness, deeper even than the shadows around her. Blixie took a deep breath, flew into the air, and dove into what was once the reflection of the moon without even a splash. As soon as she fully disappeared the ring of light snapped closed and vanished, the puddle once again just reflecting the light of the moon above. Chapter 38 Blixie looked around her to get her bearings. She was flying above a ring of rocks, engraved with slowly dimming runes, that lay on a soft bed of moss. She had only used the academy''s portal a few times but only when it had been required in the classes she had taken. The portal lay in a ring of large oaks a few hundred yards from the academy. The academy itself was rather plain compared to the mountains and forests that hid it from the rest of the world. It had been built into the side of a hill and crafted to look like a series of large stones that could have been used by a long dead civilization for unspeakable rituals, or to tell time, or could have been an artistic undertaking. Who knows with artists sometimes. Blixie thought. Fond memories of her classes and fellow students floated through her mind. All the fun, and trouble, they had gotten into during the past couple decades seemed like a lifetime ago and yet it felt like just yesterday that she was entering the school for the first time. Most of the classes were held inside rooms that had been carved throughout the hill, or in the surrounding fields, mountains, and lakes depending on the class involved. The academy made sure there was a place to practice no matter the element since they never knew what kind of dungeon the students would be assigned to guide. "No time to reminisce." Blixie told herself and she flew off toward the top of the hill to the entrance nestled in the shadowed crook of one of the stones. Inside the academy, one would think they had been transported to the courts of men or dwarves. The hallways were lined in stone and wide enough for several students to walk side by side. Wooden doors that were scarcely bigger than two pixies were placed sporadically along the walls and small magical lights brightened the hallways. Most dungeon guides could see easily without the light, since most would have to explore deep cave systems to find the dungeon core they would eventually be partnered with, but the teachers wanted the students to learn about how most of the adventurers that visited the dungeons would see and experience a dungeon. Blixie walked along the empty entrance hall and soon came upon a larger central room with several hallways branching off and a circular wooden desk in the center. A guy in a black robe sat at the desk reading a book, his pale blue skin shone dully in the lantern light. "Hello." Blixie said as she approached. He looked up, his dark green, seaweed like, hair rustled softly. "I need to see Madame Flittlebee as soon as possible, please." "You do realize what time it is, right?" He responded with a watery warble to his voice. "I am aware." Blixie stated. "And I would have waited if I could, but I need to get back to my dungeon before sunup." The man just stared back at her without a care. "And what is it regarding?" He finally said dully. "I have a question about my dungeon that didn''t come up in the classes." She said, her patience slowly draining from her. "Come with me." He stood up and walked out from behind the desk. "But I''m not responsible if she is unhappy about this." He quickly walked down one of the tunnels with Blixie following after. A few minutes later they arrived at a nondescript door with a small crest of a bee above it. He knocked loudly and they waited a few moments before a deep raspy called back. "What is it at this hour that needs my dire attention?" "I have a guide here that has a question about her dungeon that apparently couldn''t wait." The blue skinned man responded. The door slowly opened to reveal the wrinkled wizened face of a woman. The eight eyes arranged in a row on her brow blinked quickly in the sudden light before focusing on Blixie. "Is that you Blixie? Gone for but a minute and already in trouble. Why am I not surprised?" She said in her low raspy voice. "Hello, Madame Flittlebee." Blixie replied sheepishly. With a small sigh Madame turned to the man standing beside Blixie "I''ll handle this, Fred. You can return to your desk." With a small nod, the blue skinned man named Fred turned and walked back the way they had come. "Come in Blixie." Madame Flittlebee said as she turned and retreated into her room. "I hope there is a good reason for waking me up at this hour." Blixie followed Madame Flittlebee inside and closed the door. The room was rather sparse with only a desk and a bookshelf along one wall, a couple of paintings adorned the walls, and a small red rug was nestled between a chair and small side table on the other side of the room. Blixie wondered where the older women slept, since there was no other door and the room couldn''t have been more than twenty feet to a side, until she looked up and noticed a huge cocoon of webbing was hanging in a corner near the ceiling. Madame Flittlebee walked over to stand beside the small side table and motioned to the chair as she turned around. "Have a seat Blixie." Blixie looked over Madame Flittlebee and noticed she hadn''t really changed since she first arrived at the school so long ago. Madame Flittlebee looked as if someone had taken a Pixie from the torso up and placed her on the body of a giant spider. Her long black hair was pulled into a ponytail to stay out of her multitude of glittering black eyes. She wore a simple white shirt over her torso leaving her large arachnid body and sleek chitinous legs bare. "Tell me what questions you have child. I''m fairly certain the classes provided by the school should have covered everything that would be needed to guide a dungeon for several decades." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Blixie sat in the offered chair and tried to get her questions in order. "Well, I was given the opportunity to guide a rather unique dungeon Madame Flittlebee." Madame Flittlebee be sighed. "Every dungeon is unique Blixie. That is the first lesson taught here, but with how good of a student you were I''m guessing you mean your dungeon is beyond the standard uniqueness of dungeons. Let me take a guess." She thought for a moment. "The dungeon you were assigned has more than two elemental affinities, lies in a region that would greatly support all of them, but since you just graduated you would have been assigned a rather young dungeon, so it is still rather generalized in its monster and trap selections. So, you came for advice on which direction to specialize the dungeon?" She asked looking rather pleased with herself, as if she has answered this same question hundreds of times. Blixie fidgeted, still feeling like a child under the gaze of a woman that had been teaching her for several decades. Blixie wasn''t sure how much information she should share for fear of what might happen. Maybe she would be replaced with a senior dungeon guide that had lost their dungeon in the past, or the school might swarm after Garrett to study him since there were no records, that she knew of, of a dungeon that could use all the elements from its birth. "There is no need for fear or shame dear." Madame Flittlebee assured Blixie. "I have had this conversation many times in the past. I''m not as young as I look you know." Blixie looked at her as Madame Flittlebee chuckled. "Well," Blixie said slowly. "I''m just not sure how to ask about it, but the best way i guess is to say my dungeon isn''t growing." "What do mean not growing?" Madame Flittlebee was curious. Dungeons not growing would be like the sun not rising. "Is there not enough mana for it to increase its influence or not enough monsters or adventurers around to feed it?" "No, there is plenty of mana and it has killed several monsters and adventurers in its influence, but..." Blixie trailed off at the end not sure how to continue without revealing too much of Garretts unique situation. "I''m too tired to be chasing you around the bush with this." Madame Flittlebee said with a small huff. "Out with it." Blixie jumped with a small squeak. "Sorry Madame Flittlebee. My dungeon hasn''t gained any levels, or experience is what I mean. At least, not any since it first killed a dire rat that had ventured into it." Madame Flittlebee rubbed here temples and pondered. "It gained experience from killing a rat, but not the others. And the other creatures died while in the dungeons influence, yes?" "Yes mam." Blixie responded. "Give me a minute to think." Madame Flittlebee said as she slowly started to walk around the room mumbling. Blixie could hear the occasional ''no'' or ''that couldn''t be it'' from her. After the second circle along the walls and even the ceiling of the room she stopped above Blixie and looked down at her. Did the dungeon''s core pillar get damaged after it killed the dire rat?" Blixie thought back the time when the two humans wandered through Garrett''s dungeon like it was nothing then smashing his gem, only for her to find that he had be reborn into a new gem, and the plan to leave the small cavern. "Kind of." She mumbled. "After the dire rat there was a pair of adventures that came through the dungeon like it was more of an inconvenience to be there than anything. After they had found the heart room one of them did hit the core pillar out of frustration, but what would that have to do with it. Doesn''t the core pillar just allow for faster mana recovery?" "Well, yes and no." Madame Flittlebee said as she lowered herself from the ceiling on a fine thread of silk and came to stand beside Blixie. "The dungeons core pillar does indeed allow for faster mana recovery but that is not all. The dungeon core acts as a physical connection from the dungeon core to its surroundings. allowing it to absorb the mana not just in the air but in the elements it is connected to." "I understand that. That part was covered in the classes, but how does that affect the dungeon gaining levels and growing?" "Usually if something damages the dungeon''s core pillar the dungeon core is destroyed in the process, so I guess I shouldn''t be surprised this isn''t covered." Madame Flittlebee looked at Blixie. "Most people think that the life force of creatures is released as mana into the air when a creature dies, which is partially true. The mana that was stored in the creature is released into the air for others to absorb and use, but the life force that we know of as experience, that allows for dungeons and other creatures to increase in levels is absorbed into the ground or similar elements surrounding it. So, if your dungeon has lost its connection with its surrounds because of a damaged core pillar, naturally it wouldn''t be able to absorb that life essence to increase in level." "Thats all?" Blixie asked astonished. "Why isn''t this covered in the classes?" "That''s all." Madame Flittlebee nodded. "It''s not covered because, like I said before, usually a dungeon''s core is destroyed if something damages the core pillar, but even if the core pillar is damaged and the core survives the dungeon will instinctually repair it before it becomes a problem." She chuckled. "Stupid Garrett and his lack of basic dungeon knowledge." Blixie mumbled in frustration. "What was that dear?" "Oh, nothing." Blixie quickly said. "Thank you for the advice Madame Flittlebee I should get back to inform my dungeon. He has been rather frustrated about this issue so I''m glad it will be an easy fix." "Of course, dear." Madame Flittlebee said with a yawn as she started climbing the wall. "If you will see yourself out, I really must get back to bed. I have to teach some classes in the morning." "Have a good night." Blixie said as she headed out of the room. Blixie quickly walked back out of the halls, waving at Fred as she passed his desk and returned to the ring of stones she had first appeared from. With a deep breath she repeated the dance that opened the gate before. Half an hour later Blixie flew through the portal and was heading back to tell Garrett what she had learned. Chapter 39 A few hours after Blixie had left, Garrett, Nick, and April sat in their room in the guild hall practicing their skills. ¡°It is taking forever to increase these skills.¡± Kyle groaned. ¡°At least you have gained levels and have a few skills you can work on.¡± Garrett snapped back. ¡°I''m stuck at level two and can''t gain any other skills.¡± ¡°Don''t worry Garrett. Blixie will figure this out.¡± April reassured Garrett. ¡°After that we can continue our adventure.¡± ¡°Speaking of adventure, what do we want to do next?¡± Kyle asked. ¡°Do we run the dungeon again and get our guild rank up so we can check out the deeper levels or should we head out to a different area to see another dungeon and town?¡± Garrett sighed to calm himself down. ¡°Let''s see what Blixie has to say when she gets back. If me leveling up is a simple fix then we can work on getting into those lower levels, otherwise I might not be able to handle them since I got cut in half by the boss on the second floor.¡± ¡°Not like it matters if your mannequin body gets damaged.¡± Kyle said. ¡°You fixed it just fine before we even left the room.¡± ¡°Yea but he can''t fix it if his core gets destroyed by a lucky shot or if a monster happens to have some sort of area attack.¡± April said in Garrett''s defense. A soft knock on the window drew everyone''s attention as Blixie was seen hovering outside. Garrett walked over and opened the window. ¡°I hope you have some good news for me.¡± Garrett said hopefully. ¡°What, no welcome back? How was your trip?¡± Blixie said in mockingly hurt tone. ¡°Sorry Blixie.¡± Garrett said sheepishly. ¡°I''m just really excited and nervous to hear what you found out. Welcome back. How was your trip?¡± Blixie just giggled. ¡°It''s fine. I''m just teasing you.¡± Blixie recounted her visit with her old professor. ¡°I guess the core pillar is more important than I thought.¡± Garrett said. ¡°I knew it helped speed up mana absorption thanks to you, and that it could act as a little bit of protection, as well as decoration for the dungeon, but that was all.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± Blixie responded. ¡°I guess it is very rarely a problem, so they just don''t address it at the academy.¡± April looked at Garrett with a bit of confusion on her face. ¡°So, if the core helps that much with mana recovery, how did you throw so many spears in the dungeon without running out of mana?¡± ¡°Oh, that''s easy.¡± Garrett said a little smugly. ¡°Every time I have some mana while we are just wandering around, I scoop up dirt from where we are, quickly form it into a shard, and place it into my inventory. Since accessing my inventory and using my Unseen Force skill don''t use mana, I just pull out a shard and throw it. After the fight I just put it back in my inventory if it is still usable. If I tried to make a new shard every time I needed one I would run out of mana pretty quickly and it would take several hours to refill my mana completely.¡± ¡°That''s a pretty efficient way of using your mana.¡± Blixie said with a bit of pride in her voice. ¡°Great job on reducing the limitation of your mana.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Garrett said slightly embarrassed. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°So how long does it take you to make a core pillar?¡± Kyle said. ¡°The last time he made one it took several hours.¡± Blixie Responded, remembering that Garrett had no sense of time back then. ¡°With his Earth Shaping skill leveled up to where it is it should be a lot faster now.¡± Blixie held her chin in thought. ¡°But he would also need to infuse his mana into the core pillar and the surrounding area as well, so maybe an hour?¡± Blixie guessed. ¡°I guess we could have Garrett setup his core pillar, lure monsters into his influence to kill, and then he could just undue the core pillar before we move on.¡± April suggested. ¡°That could work,¡± Blixie said in her best teacher voice, ¡°but we couldn''t do that in dungeons. The core for the dungeon we would be in would take it as a sign that Garrett was invading and send the toughest monsters it has at us and destroy Garrett before he could finish.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense. I remember how that gnome responded when we entered the dungeon here.¡± April said dejectedly. "It would also be a huge pain to keep stopping just so you two could go look for monsters to bring back and kill while within just a few feet of me." Garrett said with a sigh. "Now I''m wondering why George made me into a dungeon core in the first place if he wanted us all to go on some adventure." "Maybe he didn''t know about that limitation?" Kyle said trying to cheer Garrett up. "He''s a god. Of course, he knew about it." "Maybe he thought it would be funny because of how we used to play as a group." April said as a though popped into her head. "He always laughed at the bad puns and jokes we would come up with." The others looked at April. "What do you mean by that?" Kyle asked in confusion. "I don''t ever remember playing as a slime before, or even joking about it." "Well," April said pausing to gather her thoughts. "Garrett was always the dungeon master and would create the world we played in. So now he can literally mold the world around him and create stuff from the earth, including the dungeon you told us about before." Garrett scratched his head in thought. "I guess that could make sense for me, but what about you two?¡± ¡°I always liked to play the characters that could make things. Now I''m a living shield of metal and can mold metal with a touch. Kyle on the other hand was always switching his character to play different types of characters, and now how can mold his body to be any shape.¡± April explained. ¡°I wouldn''t be surprised if he learned how to cast spells eventually since he usually had some kind of spell casting ability¡± ¡°I liked to stay flexible.¡± Kyle quipped. ¡°That is an interesting thought.¡± Garrett said. ¡°We still have two more friends to find, so if we think along those lines then we might have an idea of what the others were reincarnated as.¡± ¡°Well, Barnabas usually played a ranger or druid so he could be anything nature related.¡± Kyle said. ¡°And Lucy was usually a healer of some type but I can''t even imagine what that would translate as. Any thoughts Blixie?¡± ¡°Why ask me?¡± Blixie replied. She had been trying to keep up with the conversation but had zoned out after a bit. ¡°You know more about the monsters of this world than any of us, and George said he had placed our souls into special monster cores.¡± Garrett said. ¡°Can you think of particular monsters that could match those ideas or even an element that would match?¡± ¡°Let me think.¡± Blixie said as she lowered herself onto the side table and sat down. ¡°Well, if we are talking about nature related monsters it could be anything from a plant type monster to an animal, or even an elemental. For healing, I don''t know. There are not really any monsters that heal, but the elements commonly associated with healing are water, light, and fire.¡± ¡°That doesn''t give us much to go on.¡± Garrett said. ¡°So, I guess we just keep our eyes out for monsters that could fit that description and have a green gem on them somewhere.¡± ¡°They would also be able to talk.¡± Kyle interjected. ¡°Maybe.¡± April said. ¡°I couldn''t talk to guys until I managed to eat some metal. We shouldn''t count on them speaking to us.¡± ¡°I guess this means we are moving on?¡± Blixie asked. ¡°Since Garrett can''t really level up around here, we might as well move on and see if we can find your friends. Then we can figure out what kind of adventure to do from there.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Kyle said. ¡°Same here.¡± Replied April. ¡°I guess we will head to the port town in the morning.¡± Garrett said. ¡°Maybe there will be a delivery quest that goes there, and we can work on getting our guild rank up a little bit.¡± With a plan in place the group waited till morning to avoid suspicion and headed down to look at the quest board.